Durban — The eThekwini Municipality would be implementing water rationing in all areas supplied by the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant, which is operated by Umgeni Water, as of Monday, June 20.
That was according to a joint statement by the municipality and Umgeni Water.
They said water rationing was necessary because of reduced water supply from the plant.
“This shortfall has been caused, and will remain for the next 10–12 months, by Umgeni Water being unable to receive adequate raw water from Nagle Dam because of extensive damage to two raw water pipelines in the April 2022 heavy rainfall,” read the statement.
“While Umgeni Water continues to make progress in providing full contracted volumes of drinking water to eThekwini, a shortfall remains and will be eradicated when the damaged pipelines are repaired and recommissioned.”
According to a work schedule provided to Umgeni Water by the appointed contractor, repairs to the damaged pipes are expected to be completed by June 2023.
“To effectively manage this shortfall so that affected areas have access to some water for some parts of the day, eThekwini has introduced a system of rotational supply so that distribution is balanced on an equitable basis. This will remain in place until repairs of the pipelines are completed,” the statement read.
This video shows some damages caused by heavy rainsfalls followed by a rock fall, that destroyed 2 of 4 Aqueducts at Molweni (KwaNgcolosi) that supplies Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant with raw water from Nagle Dam. pic.twitter.com/w1XUPiVxlO
— Umgeni Water (@UmgeniWater) April 13, 2022
To augment resources and partially reduce the shortfall, three of the four emergency shaft pumps at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant are being used to transfer water from Inanda Dam.
Umgeni Water on average requires an additional 40 million litres per day to meet in full the amount of potable water that it is contracted to supply eThekwini.
“It is important that stakeholders realise that the shortfalls in raw water and potable water availability and supply will persist until the two raw water pipelines are repaired, recommissioned and their efficacy restored.
“It is in this context, therefore, that an appeal is being made for full co-operation and support from all stakeholders as Umgeni Water and eThekwini work closely together to ensure that some water is available to consumers who are supplied by reservoirs fed from the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant,” read the statement.
A war room has been established at the request of Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu.
“Piped water supply to many areas remains erratic, which has resulted in some communities receiving water and others not. Communities and their leaderships have raised this matter with representatives of the war room and demanded equity in distribution. The war room has taken note of community sentiment and is acting on it with vigour,” the statement read.
“The war room has endorsed the extension of a strategy that will ensure affected communities have access to water through a rotational supply system. This will be implemented from Monday, June 20, 2022, and entrench equal distribution of available water in a switch-on and switch-off basis, rotating from one to the other.”
The municipality and Umgeni Water appealed to the public to use water sparingly to ensure that all customers have access to some water.
Customers are also cautioned against stockpiling water as it could collapse the already constrained system.
The statement also said that water tankers will not be dispatched to cover the rationing period. They will only be dispatched to areas experiencing outages, as opposed to rationing.
“The public is encouraged to keep reporting leaks so that they can be attended to speedily to minimise water losses. To support this, the process of awarding a contract for satellite leak detection is at an advanced stage.”
Information about the water-rationing schedule is available on the municipal website, at Sizakala Centres, municipal clinics, libraries and councillors’ offices.
The municipality and Umgeni Water have made a water rationing schedule available.
Daily News