Dam levels dropping at 1% every 10 days‚ Midvaal council says

24 October 2016 - 13:55 By Penwell Dlamini
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The Midvaal Local Municipality has urged its residents to continue saving water despite the rains which were experienced over the weekend.

In a statement released on Monday‚ the council said water levels in the Vaal Dam had dropped from 31.5% on September 15 to under 28% on October 20.

Dam levels are currently dropping at around 1% every 10 days‚ and a crisis is looming‚ said Midvaal MMC for Engineering Services‚ Dennis Ryder.

“Although some rain has fallen during October‚ the main rains are likely to only occur in December‚ and it is vital that people do not start to ease up on their saving precautions following the rains of the past week. While the rain was welcome‚ it was too little to make any real impact on the drought situation in the Vaal area‚” said Ryder.

“The Vaal Dam supplies 12-million South Africans with water‚ and if the levels drop below 25%‚ there will be a serious impact on infrastructure and the ability to supply water‚” said Ryder.

He applauded the people of Midvaal for responding to requests to save water and complying with water restrictions which have been imposed. He said the municipality had managed to save close to the 15% target‚ but has not yet met it‚ and he urged all residents and businesses in Midvaal to find more ways to save water so that the target can be met.

In August‚ the Department of Water and Sanitation issued a Government Gazette compelling municipalities to reduce consumption by 15%. The cities of Tshwane‚ Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni have already introduced water restrictions and penalties‚ but none have been able to achieve the required reduction.

– TMG Digital

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