Taps begin to run dry in drought-stricken Mandela Bay

10 January 2023 - 08:53
By TImesLIVE
Dams continue to decline
Image: Werner Hills Dams continue to decline "at an alarming rate" with a total of 14.9% recorded from the major storage dams supplying the city on Monday.

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality says water disruptions have started to affect several suburbs, as a result of the ongoing drought.

This comes as dams continue to decline “at an alarming rate” with a total of 14.9% recorded from the major storage dams supplying the city on Monday.

As a result of the severe drought, NMBM said it cannot meet the water demand of 286 megalitres a day, resulting in water shortages. The city’s approved abstraction volume by the department of water is only 230 megalitres per day.

The metro appealed to all water users within the city to reduce consumption immediately.

Mayor Retief Odendaal said in a statement the low dam levels have caused a strain on the system leading to Nooitgedagt Water Treatment Works' (WTW) supply deficit.

“This has had knock-on effects such as reservoir levels at Grassridge and Olifantskop , causing reduced flow to parts of the city, specifically the east west transfer system. Efforts have been made by our teams to avoid any water disruption but Fairbridge Heights, Rosedale and Scheepershoogte reservoir have been affected.”

The Fairbrigde Heights reservoir is at 0%. The affected areas include Fairbridge Heights, Janssendal, Levyvale, Scheepershoogte, Strelizia Park, Valleisig, Van Riebeeck Hoogte, Vanes Estate and Winterhoek Park in Kariega.

Rosedale reservoir is low and high-lying areas in the reservoir zone are experiencing water disruption.

Scheepershoogte reservoir is at 11%. The mayor said the reservoir zone will be experiencing low water pressure, with affected areas including Despatch.

“Mitigation measures have and will continue to be implemented to ensure that supply to all areas is restored as quickly as possible. Residents need to reduce their water usage and use water sparingly for basic use only.”

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