Possible water shortages as municipality fix manganese problem

There is a possibility that some taps may run dry as the municipality is tackling the manganese problem.

In recent past days, the municipality has been inundated with poor water quality experienced at the consumer points.

An investigation has been conducted and was found that the main cause of water discoloration was the high manganese content in the raw water fed to the plant for treatment.

Further that the chemical dosing system requires urgent modification to feed adequate chemicals into the water treatment system.

The preparations were done on January 4 with the intention that the plant will be offline for a short period of time to allow for the installation of modified equipment.

The water plant was taken offline at about 08:00 on January 5 and expected to be back online by 13:00.

“During this period there will be a water production deficit as we will depend only on the other water supply schemes of Nu Water and the Anglo mine,” explained Mr Lebo Mofokeng municipal spokesperson.

There will be areas affected with no water and or low water pressure especially distant and high lying areas until the water plant is back in full operation.

“Water will be supplied by means of water tankers for the period in question with emphasis to places of learning, old age homes, and health institutions and where people gather in numbers as per regulations,” Mofokeng said.

It should be borne in mind that as the water system will be empty and the recovery period is expected to be between twelve and twenty-four hours.

The additional water supply schemes of the modular package plant will be operated at maximum capacity to maintain minimum water levels in the water supply system.

It is therefore important that the communities and consumers use water sparingly and safely as the entire country is faced with an even more dangerous second phase of Covid-19 pandemic.