Water woes deepen as Chelmsford’s level drops

Endumeni’s water woes could deepen as the water level of the Chelmsford dam continues to drop.
The Endumeni and Nquthu areas are totally reliant on water pumped from Chelmsford into the Buffalo River from where water is extracted from the Tayside pumping station.
Water for the Nquthu area is extracted lower down from the Hlati Dam area. Currently, Chelmsford dam is only 42% full. Last year this time the dam was around 66% full,
Dr Dumisani Thabethe of uThukela Water has warned that higher summer temperatures resulted in higher evaporation levels and this will lead to a rapid drop in capacity should the long-awaited rains still not arrive.
Endumeni has been living under the shadow of water restrictions for nearly 18 months with ‘water choking’ resulting in no water in the higher-lying areas. However, many residents have complained about the ‘unfairness of this’ as lower lying areas are hardly affected.
There are also concerns that the authorities have little means of implementing water restrictions other than ‘choke the supply’ as many people still wash their cars using hoses and water their gardens. Local car washes are also still operational. Dr Thabete told sister paper, the Newcastle Advertiser, that uThukela Water has no direct control over water usage by these businesses but he appealed to owners to rather use buckets in place of hoses.
“We are looking into reusing water. Residents should follow the four Rs: reuse water, reduce consumption, repair leaks and read the meter regularly. Identifying and addressing water leaks is also a critical area when it comes to saving,” he said.
“The time has come for residents not to only rely on municipal reminders to save water. Everyone must.”