Technical issues plague Umtamvuna water system
The municipality said it initiated a process to arrange four supplementary water tankers to target areas such as KwaXolo, Izingolweni, Nodalane and KwaNzimakwe.
While the long-anticipated connection of a temporary 2.3MVA power supply at the Umtamvuna Raw Water Pump station is complete, water supply cannot yet be brought online due to unforeseen technical complications.
Ugu District Municipality revealed this in a statement on Monday last week.
According to Ugu spokesperson, Zimbini Mpurwana, the delay was wholly unacceptable, especially as the water system has now been offline for three consecutive days.
She said the municipality is implementing measures to provide relief water supplies to communities affected by the complications at the plant.
Mpurwana said the complications arose after the completion of necessary power transfers from the Eastern Cape, which delivered the new 2.3MVA power supply aimed at enhancing water supply stability.
She explained that the initiative was intended to increase the capacity of raw water supply, thereby enhancing and stabilising the entire Umtamvuna Water Scheme, which
services an extensive area from Port Edward to Ramsgate South along the coast, and KwaNzimakwe to Nodalane inland.
She said to mitigate the situation, the municipality has initiated a process to arrange four supplementary water tankers to target areas such as KwaXolo, Izingolweni, Nodalane and KwaNzimakwe, and internal trucks to service critical coastal points as they arise.
“The emergency relief operations are set to commence today and remain in place for the next five days until the system is stable. The municipality remains optimistic that the Umtamvuna system is in for major improvement once the power supply stabilises. The municipality assures affected communities that Eskom is working to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” she said.
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