High consumption puts Tshwane’s bulk water system 'under severe strain'

The City of Tshwane has warned high water consumption by residents and businesses is putting the city’s bulk water system under strain and may lead to the system running dry and collapsing.

The city said it continues to experience a week-on-week high consumption of water by residents and businesses despite its numerous requests to customers to use water sparingly.

“The Rand Water system, which accounts for 79% of Tshwane’s water provision, is under pressure due to the city’s excessive demand. The water utility is pumping about 800-million litres per day to Tshwane, which is 18% more than the city’s licence agreement with the entity,” said the city's spokesperson Selby Bokaba.

He cautioned that if consumption does not change the city will adjust water restrictions to level 2 or higher, which will have financial implications for consumers due to the associated change in water tariffs.

“The city urges residents to make a concerted effort to reduce water usage by adhering to the level 1 water restrictions. Punitive measures will be imposed against transgressors,” Bokaba said.

TimesLIVE reported Gauteng is experiencing a water crisis as water storage levels are critical and if consumers don’t quickly implement water-saving measures the province is in danger of depleted reservoirs and dry taps.

Rand Water has issued an alert, saying repeated meetings and communications with municipalities in the province — urging them to communicate the possibility of a water crisis — have gone unheeded. 

The bulk water utility urged municipalities to urgently fix leaks, improve their management, take swift action to police usage and crack down on water theft. 

TimesLIVE