eMalahleni, brace yourself for dry taps
Cable theft, vandalism and power outages are to blame for the water interruptions the municipality said.
The Emalahleni Local Municipality warned residents that their taps might run dry.
The possible water supply interruption, the municipality said, is due to ongoing theft and vandalism at the raw water infrastructure and prolonged power outages.
Pumping water from the modular package plant and from point B-C to point C reservoir for the past three days has become a daunting task.
The loss in production at the packaging plant was about 10 Ml per day and affected areas were supplied by the Point C reservoir.
The raw water infrastructure in Point B fell prey to cable theft three times in October.
This theft and vandalism damaged both of the submersible pumps that augment the raw water supply to the Witbank water treatment plant.
“These pumps are critical in maximising output produced by the plant since the vandalism the production from the Witbank water treatment plant has reduced and affected most areas in eMalahleni,” said Lebo Mofokeng, municipal spokesperson.
Mofokeng said all the cables were replaced last night (November 1).
“We do acknowledge that other areas were without water before the above-mentioned incidences because of the deficit in bulk water availability but the incidences have further intensified the situation,” Mofokeng explained.
Due to the shortage of the bulk supply, the storage level at the reservoirs is all sitting under 20%, which is resulting in water shortages in most areas around Emalahleni.
The recovery time takes longer after the plant has normalised because the system is now dry, the low-lying areas are the once that are restored first and the high-lying areas get restored last.
The municipality predicted that it would take five days for the system to fully stabilise.
“Reservoir levels will be closely monitored progress will be communicated and water tankers will be despatched to strategic areas,” said Mofokeng.
He concluded, “We urge communities to use water sparingly and not fill their Jojo’s until the system is completely stable.”
Local news | eMalahleni water repair works cause major supply disruptions
Read more here : https://t.co/i9VRcqnIpE#Witbanknews #emalahleni— WitbankNews (@WitbankN) September 22, 2023
#Water #ServiceDelivery needs for residents in Masakhane, #Emalahleni. Residents access #water for daily use from a communal Jojo tank & a tap. This is certainly not enough for everyone!
We are calling on #EmalahleniMunicipality to provide adequate water for our people. pic.twitter.com/lPpYjg1iWM— Planact South Africa (@Planact_NGO) May 20, 2021
Communities in Emalahleni have not had water for 6 weeks. Some haven’t had water for 8 months. Just last Thursday a new mayor was elected after Conny Nkalitshana was removed. Communities, wherever they find water they collect from. Not knowing if the water is safe. #eNCA pic.twitter.com/xBsqkLsoyF
— Heidi Giokos (@HeidiGiokos) July 3, 2023
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