While water restrictions imposed by eThekwini Municipality will undoubtedly affect Toti’s taps, there’s no firm indication that the Upper South Coast has been included in a proposal mooting nine-hour scheduled cut-offs for suburbs of the city.
This week a leaked document detailing the proposed daily nine-hour cut-offs caused residents to scramble in preparation for the dreaded restrictions.
This document, purportedly penned as a drought implementation plan for the Umgeni supply system on official eThekwini letterhead, cites an implementation date of Monday, 7 March. However, areas which were to be without water as per the document’s schedule, were unaffected.
City mayor, James Nxumalo has called on the executive committee to launch a probe on the premature release of an as yet unratified plan. It is unclear whether the plan will be adopted at a full council meeting this Friday, 11 March.
Meanwhile, ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge said while the larger Amanzimtoti area is excluded from the first stages of the drought implementation plan, it is inevitable that residents will be affected in the next stages.
“Residents are reminded that a 15% saving against residential use is already mandatory in an effort to reduce the city’s current demand of 606-million litres to 515-million litres as the Midmar and Albert Falls dams were 46% and 36% of their capacity respectively on 3 March,” said Cllr Beetge.
In addition to water supply being totally shut off to areas for as long as nine hours twice a week according to the schedule, water pressure to certain low lying areas will be reduced to a minimum of 100kpa. “Unfortunately there are also other problems associated with the situation, as the system is effectively not designed to be shut, drained by usage and re-opened after the scheduled time, as this causes air entrapment, which in turn leads to bursts and leaks.”
Cllr Beetge said given the expected extent of technical issues, both human resources and equipment such as water tankers will be prioritised to these areas, however there is no intention of dispatching tankers to areas during prescribed shut-down times.
“Once the scheduled shut-down is complete, it might, depending on the extent of the pipe system, take several hours to re-establish normal supply to higher lying properties.
The main concern at this point is arguably the northern areas which draw water from the Hazelmere Dam, which is just above 30%, remembering that this includes sludge and not all of it is drinkable.
The southern central and southern areas draw off the Umgeni line which feed off Albert Falls and Midmar respectively, with larger demand in the more densely populated areas which also include Umlazi.
In terms of the proposed schedule, the larger Amanzimtoti is – for the present – excluded from the proposed schedule not because we are saving, but our demographics result in a lesser demand, compared to other areas. Similar to load shedding, restrictions to areas with high demand results in increased saving as opposed to rural areas that although vast, have less users. But that is only what is proposed in the current document, the content of which could change at a moment’s notice. As much as residents might complain, the reality remains that the dams are draining faster than they fill and although the last few days of rain have brought relief to the scorching heat and vegetation, it effectively makes no difference to water availability if there is no rain over the catchment areas that feed the city.”
Restrictions will remain in effect until dams have reached the 70% mark.
According to eThekwini Municipality’s communications head, Tozi Mthethwa, the city is trying to curb water pipeline bursts. The Sun reported two burst pipes to the municipality in the last week, one in KwaMakhutha which had been running since November but was still not repaired, and another in Berrio Avenue which had been running since Friday, but was repaired on Tuesday. “The quicker eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) is informed about a leak, the quicker they can respond and address the matter to prevent further water loss,” said Mthethwa.
Residents can report illegal water connections and water leaks to 080-131-3013, SMS to 083-707-3013 or email Eservices@durban.gov.za.
