The municipality wasn’t joking in its notice of 30-hour water outages scheduled for eight days between March 4 and April 29.

The CBD, Extension 18, Aerorand, Extension 11, Mineralia, Vaalbank, Industrial, and Gholfsig will experience 30-hour water outages on both March 4 and March 11.

Clubville, Uitkyk, Mhluzi, Tokologo, Newtown, Kanonkop, Dennesig, Eastdene, Hlalamnandi, Rondebosch, Nasaret, Rockdale, and surrounding areas will endure 30-hour water outages on six days namely March 18, March 25, April 1, April 15, April 22, and April 29.

The public notice ends with, “Residents are kindly requested to use water sparingly during this period …”

It hopefully indicates that the municipality is erring on the side of caution with the 30-hour dry slot announcement, and that outages are fluent.

The shutdown is due to major refurbishments at the Vaalbank Water Treatment Plant, which include bulk electricity upgrades, the construction of new sludge ponds, paving of roads, and refurbishment of the existing pump station.

Additional work will include the replacement of old mechanical and electrical equipment and the replacement of suction and delivery pipes, pumps, motors, valves, and electrical panels, as well as concrete works, which has to dry before the plant is brought back into operation.