Households still battle for water despite full dams

POLOKWANE – Although dams in the province are overflowing, residents of the city had to cope with water shortages and low pressure again during the past week.

Reservoirs supplying consumers with water were at critically low levels and water tankers were deployed to distribute water to hospitals, schools and places where senior citizens are being cared for as well as households on stand-by for the arrival of the tankers.

Yolande Nel, Lepelle Northern Water marketer/media liaison officer, confirmed that both schemes providing Polokwane and surrounds with water, Ebenezer and Olifantspoort, are daily supplying the volumes as stipulated in the service level agreements, the water use licences and in terms of the capacity of the facilities.

“Most recently, operations at Ebenezer Plant were plagued by extended power outages. The one incident, which was related to disrupted electricity supply to the plant in the beginning of the week, was reportedly caused by a tree having fallen on the mainline feeder. Upon restoration of power, operations immediately resumed in all instances,” Nel said and added that there is no challenge on the side of the bulk Specon pipeline linking the Specon reservoir with the Olifantspoort Plant.

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“We can confirm that the plant is fully operational,” she assured.