Cape Town - The City of Cape Town (CoCT) is rolling out its plan to prevent untimely water disruptions, water wastage and reduce maintenance costs over the next couple of months. As a result, water supply to Khayelitsha and Hout Bay will be affected in the coming days.
R9.9 million has been budgeted for the City’s Department of Water and Sanitation for water supply zone management this financial year.
The budget will primarily be used for installing zone management infrastructure, engineering the design of zones and maintenance for monitoring the network.
“Dividing the network into smaller supply zones helps the City keep pressure at consistently optimal levels, and identify and investigate unexplained consumption increases more efficiently,” the City explained on Tuesday.
“This is mainly done through installing Smart Pressure-Reducing Valves (PRVs) and bulk water meters,” it adds.
For five hours on Thursday, February 17, between 10am and 3pm, water supply to Khayelitsha will be disrupted in order to replace an 800mm water meter, because it has been flagged as faulty.
“This is as part of pro-active maintenance on the bulk water infrastructure to ensure continued water supply to the residents, and an effort to reduce unaccounted for water,” the City states.
In Hout Bay on Friday, February 11, from 9pm until 4am on February 12, water supply will be disrupted as the City conducts zero-pressure testing that is a part of the installation process for pressure management technology.
“Tests are done to see if there are any unmapped inflows that need to be taken into account before smart pressure-reducing valves are installed,” it says, regarding Hout Bay’s planned water disruption this weekend.
Approximately 236 supply zones are expected to be reached across the City by June 2022, and as a result Capetonians can expect near-zero pressure testing over the next couple of months, as new supply zones are implemented.
“Our aim is to have full coverage of the City network with either Pressure Management Zones or District Metered Areas in order for us to minimise water wastage. The areas prioritised for the installation of these PRVs are based on a combination of pipe burst frequency, pipe material, and prevailing operating pressure in the area,” Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said on Tuesday.
An average of 23ML of water is reportedly saved a day due to pressure management.
Residents of Khayelitsha and Hout Bay are advised to store water in containers for use during the planned water disruptions.
IOL