The Tshwane metro is hoping that a collaborative scheme with Denmark will help prevent what has euphemistically become known as “Day Zero” – the day that water taps will run dry.

“As the country’s migration hub, Tshwane is highly water insecure,” says utilities MMC Daryl Johnston.

“This is concerning as we see other metros teetering towards day zero, leaving residents and businesses in the lurch.”

He hopes a water preservation scheme, in partnership with the Danish city of Aarhus and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, will help the metro avoid this.

Last Tuesday, the metro participated in the C40 Cities Africa Water Security Forum 2022.

The forum was aimed at ensuring that cities had a better understanding of their water security needs and priorities.

Johnston says the collaboration with the leaders of Aarhus will succeed in its plan to create a water sufficient and self-reliant city support.

The project first will clamp down on water loss, optimising water sources and wastewater facilities.

Water loss is mainly attributable to asbestos cement pipes bursting because they were old and degrading.

He says the metro seeks to identify and prioritise the replacement of its ailing network in 240 areas to reduce water losses.

He says the metro is caught in a conundrum because it has a limited budget to replace the aging pipes yet is loging a staggering R1b per year’s worth of water due to burst pipes.

“Our aim is to stretch that budget by identifying the most critical pipes to replace first.

“We also need to take matters into our own hands and accelerate the optimisation of our own sources.”

In a bid to accelerate city-owned water sources, the metro plans to incorporate groundwater, rainwater and greywater into its strategy.

The metro produced around 17% of its own water through a mix of water treatment plants, boreholes and springs. It will, therefore, be able to achieve water resilience with a bit more effort.

“We are looking into spending an additional R50m to expand our Rietvlei waterworks to increase our capacity for the long-term benefit of local communities.”

Johnston says this additional capacity will enable the metro to provide water to new settlements and facilitate economic expansion.

“This additional capacity does not exempt us from continuing to work on improving our reticulation system to prevent water losses. We must find new sources of water supply and innovative solutions to reduce water losses.

“At this juncture, we are already straining against our water allocation from Rand Water. Until the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands water project is initiated, the growth of Gauteng municipalities is throttled,” he says.

He says such a choke on water is a ‘worrying’ prospect for growth and development.