Decision on Gauteng water restrictions expected on Friday

Gauteng residents will find out on Friday whether they’ll be able to water their lawns and fill swimming pools freely.

"It’s going to take place on Friday. The department will inform all the municipalities on whether they should lift restrictions or not‚" said Department of Water and Sanitation spokesman Sputnik Ratau.

Ratau said the department would first consult municipalities.

• Gauteng to lift water curbs as Western Cape is still under drought lashWhile the Western Cape has about 124 days of water left‚ Gauteng will lift its water restrictions on Monday.  

He added that even if water restrictions are lifted‚ residents should still use water sparingly.

"We’d rather the practise of water saving becomes second nature‚" Ratau said.

Tshwane Municipality spokesperson Klaas Mofomme said the municipality would take direction from the department.

"At the moment we are not sure if we will reduce or keep the current water restrictions‚" he said.

He added that there was a "level of compliance" among citizens‚ but that "the process was not smooth".

The Vaal Dam reached its full storage capacity on Monday morning with an inflow of 669.75 cubic metres a second‚ the provincial department of water and sanitation said.

• Vaal Dam now full‚ say provincial water authoritiesThe Vaal Dam reached its full storage capacity on Monday with an inflow of 669.75 cubic metres a second‚ the provincial department of water and sanitation said. 

This was posted on the department’s Twitter account. It emphasised that people should continue to save water and use it sparingly.

"At midday [Monday] the department will release 104m³/s of water from the Vaal Dam‚" said department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.

The department also warned residents of the town of Douglas in the Northern Cape of possible flooding

"It is not certain but we simply want to alert the residents in the area about a possibility of a flood as Douglas town is a junction where Vaal and Orange rivers meet‚" Ratau said.

According to the department‚ the Vaal Dam is now at its the highest level in six years. This comes after heavy showers over the past few months

The South African Weather Service predicts less rain in the Gauteng region over the next week.

"Johannesburg can expect a chance of rainfall while Pretoria could potentially experience less rain compared to Johannesburg‚" said forecaster Wayne Venter.

- TMG Digital