Eleven areas without water, affecting thousands of residents in Msunduzi.
The Msunduzi Municipality has revealed that its reservoirs are struggling to reach the required capacity to supply residents due to recently imposed water curtailment measures.
The situation has resulted in significant water outages across many parts of the city.
The municipality said the water curtailment measures, which included a reduction in pressure in the reticulation network, aimed to reduce the amount of water used by residents.
Just days after the measures were first implemented, thousands of residents were left without water, some for days at a time.
The curtailment measures were introduced in both eThekwini and Msunduzi after the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board was instructed by the Department of Water and Sanitation to reduce the amount of water it was abstracting from the system.
The municipality detailed the challenges they are facing, stating that as a result of the curtailment measures, their reservoirs were not reaching the required levels. Homes, particularly in higher areas, are not receiving water, and when supply is restored, issues such as airlocks and burst pipes were occurring. City councillors reported that since last week, many areas across the city have experienced outages.
On Sunday alone, 11 areas were without water due to a burst pipe.
In a statement released last week, the municipality acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the ongoing water outages in the northern areas.
Deputy mayor Mxolisi Mkhize said "This reduction has impacted certain communities, especially those in higher areas. Due to the reduced flows, reservoir levels are not rising to the required level to assist all communities. The impact of this is low pressure and, in some cases, no water. When water is restored, we encounter airlocks and burst pipes."
DA councillor Rooksana Ahmed described the situation as disastrous, noting that the northern areas of the city were without water for seven consecutive days.
"It was either no water at all, very little water, or water came at midnight and went off around 4 am. We cannot afford to have this stress forced on parents and children. Msunduzi has not come forward to acknowledge that there is a serious problem.
"Promises were made by the mayor that this programme of low pressure would have no effect on our residents and that we would have water as normal every day. People cannot wash clothes, geysers cannot fill, and in larger families, this is a health hazard due to the non-flushing of toilets. The planning and execution of this have been poor."
ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand reported receiving updates on Sunday regarding the extent of the problem.
By Monday, there were still 11 areas without water, affecting thousands of residents.
The Mercury