Bloemfontein - The Sol Plaatje municipality plans to cut all water supplies to Kimberley this week to do repairs, a municipal spokesman said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Sello Matsie said a valve in a pipeline at the Newton water plant had to be replaced.
He urged residents to collect enough water for two days for cooking and to keep toilets and baths working.
The city’s water supplies would be cut by Wednesday night so that the plant would be dry for the contractors to start work on Thursday.
Matsie said the project was the first in a campaign to stop water loss in the city.
It was estimated that the city lost 40 percent of its water from the Vaal River at the Riverton water plant because of leakages and illegal connections.
Matsie said it was expected that the work at the Newton plant would take only a day.
He said the city’s hospitals had storage dams which they would use on Thursday. The fire brigade and the SA National Defence Force would be on standby for the day. - Sapa