eThekwini Municipality announces water restrictions

The eThekwini Municipality has announced that it will be implementing a raft of water curtailment measures that will impact the supply of water to all consumers in the city.

The municipality on Monday unveiled a number of measures that are set to come into effect in a few days, including the installation of restrictors on water meters for all consumers and reducing pressure in the reticulation network.

A few months ago, “The Mercury” reported that the City had been warned by the Department of Water and Sanitation that it must reduce water consumption.

The department had written to the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board demanding that it reduce the amount of water it is extracting from the water systems. The demand had a direct impact on eThekwini, which is the largest customer of uMngeni-uThukela.

The announcement of restrictions has outraged a ratepayers group and some parties on the opposition benches.

They argued that the City is failing to take responsibility for the situation and could have done more to prevent this from developing into a crisis.

However, eThekwini mayor Cyril Xaba told councillors in a council meeting on Monday that the City had done a lot to prevent the situation from deteriorating to this point.

“As a city, we have been constantly saying that the demand for water far exceeds supply and we continue to plead with all stakeholders, especially the public, to work with us to address this challenge,” said the mayor.

He said the high water usage can be attributed to rapid urbanisation, ageing infrastructure which causes water leaks, and illegal connections.

Xaba said the bulk of water supply to eThekwini Municipality comes from the uMngeni-uThukela Water catchment system.

“The average abstraction amount from the system over the past 12 months amounts to 1406.4 Ml/d. This value will have to be reduced to 1287.7 Ml/d, which is a reduction of 118 Ml/d, in order for uMngeni-uThukela Water Board to meet the conditions of the Water Use Licence of 470 million m3/ annum.

“For this reason, the Department of Water and Sanitation has imposed water curtailment on the system, which comes into effect on October 10. The curtailment will be for a period of 12 months, and we urge our residents to use water sparingly so that we can assist in reducing this high level of consumption.

“We want to indicate that we did everything in our power to avert this situation by writing to the department requesting the postponement of the curtailment while we implement measures to save water, including non-revenue water. However, we are at the stage where the ultimate goal is to avert a situation where water supply gets depleted from the source,” he said.

Other curtailment measures include:

• Metering all unmetered consumers.

• Improving turnaround time in repairing leaks and pipe bursts through the deployment of wardbased plumbers.

• Community education on water conservation.

• Disconnection of illegal connections.

• Water rationing where demand is too high or exceeds available supply.

Head of Water and Sanitation Ednick Msweli said the water restrictions were not a result of the City running out of water. He said the City has been ordered to reduce the amount of water it consumes.

“The Department of Water and Sanitation has said, ‘If you don’t do anything, you will drain the dam’. We have put many other interventions in place, and curtailment is the last resort.”

He urged the councillors to assist when it comes to installing restrictors on meters.

“We will need your help when we come to your wards to install the restrictors. We are going to the meter to install it to limit the amount of water that goes through. We appeal for the support of the councillors when we do that; it will not matter how much you open your tap, the amount of water that will be going through will be controlled at the meter,” he said.

DA councillor Yogis Govender said the City and uMngeni-uThukela must be accountable for the water woes.

She said it was as a result of a “culmination of failures, omissions, lack of preventive maintenance, lack of fore-planning, and a dismal track record in repairing leaks and bursts that brought the city to this point”.

Ish Prahladh, president of eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents’ Association, criticised the curtailment measures saying they were misguided and a result of failure by the City.

“Stop water wastage immediately by employing plumbers in the ward so as soon as there is a burst, water must be stopped immediately; then repairs can follow.

“Water supply to informal residents must have meters where they get so many kilolitres free, and then they must pay.

“All illegal water connections must be stopped, not only for the informal sector but also for the formal sector.”

The Mercury