The City of Ekurhuleni has embarked on building 29 reservoirs from 2018 to 2021 with a storage capacity of 550 megalitres to address water capacity constraints within the metro.
In his State of the City (SOCA) address in Germiston on March 27, Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina said three of the 29 reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 55 megalitres, have already been constructed in Kempton Park, Nigel and Palm Ridge.
“The existing reserve capacities in Benoni, Germiston, Brakpan, Springs, Edenvale, Kempton Park and Tembisa, can only supply between two to 10 hours, if the City experiences water interruptions, and where there is no inflow into the reservoirs, which is less than the normal standard of 24 to 48 hours,” said Masina.
Construction of nine more reservoirs will commence before June.
“The construction of these reservoirs is significant because it will ensure the security of supply of water, and inter-link water supply from one zone to another,” said Masina.
He said the metro has also installed an additional 11 323 new water and sewer connections to formal dwellings. This was accompanied by the installation of 23 483 new water meters as well as a meter refurbishment initiative to the old infrastructure.
“This investment helped in ensuring that water losses in the past 12 months have improved to 30.85 per cent, which is lower than the previous financial year loss of 34.3 per cent.
“The installation of water metres and maintenance of old water networks has assisted us in the reduction of non-revenue water wastage. A total of 12 537 water service points were installed in informal settlements to date to improve access points and to reduce the distance travelled to collect water.
“In a water scarce country that is battling water shortages, this is a significant intervention that will go a long way in contributing to the saving of water,” Masina added.
