More water needed than eThekwini can supply
Residents in Isipingo have been adversely affected by the ongoing water shortages in the south region.
WATER shortages because of a disruption to the supply from the South Coast Augmentation (SCA) bulk water supply line to areas between Isipingo and Pennington have continued for another week as thousands of residents have been left to deal with dry taps.
Also read: Water supply interruptions remain in place in the south of Durban
Two weeks ago, uMngeni-uThukela Water announced that the SCA pipeline supplying the Amanzimtoti Water Works was experiencing some technical problems, which meant more water was being consumed from the southern reservoirs than could be supplied.
“Technical teams from the eThekwini Municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water are currently working on identifying the cause of the bulk water supply interruption to undertake the necessary repairs,” it said.
In parts of Isipingo, the problem has been made worse by a burst water pipe on Jeffels Road, causing extended outages in Isipingo Beach, Isipingo Hills, Prospecton and Isipingo Rail. At the time of publication, supply to the Amanzimtoti, Doonside, Launcheston, and Lewis Drive reservoirs was being built up.
Ward 97 councillor André Beetge said the water demand for the south is 100 million litres per day.
“Of that, 20 million litres comes from the Nungwane Dam, which is 35km inland of Amanzimtoti and is treated to drinking quality locally at the Amanzimtoti Water Works. The other 80 million litres come from the Wiggins line into Woodlands Reservoirs 3 and 4 from where it is dispensed to a network of smaller reservoirs with towers to supply local areas,” said Beetge.
At present, he said the demand is higher than the daily production capacity. Instead of receiving 80 million litres per day, it has dropped to between 55 and 60 million litres, creating a 25% shortfall.
“The municipality is constantly closing the outlets of Woodlands 3 and 4 so that supply can build up, because should it run completely dry, it would take weeks to recover. When water arrives along the SCA, it’s dispersed to reservoirs, some gravity-fed, others via a pump. The reservoirs have to reach a certain level to sustain continued demand before pumps to the towers above the reservoirs engage to fill the towers and supply the high areas,” he said.
At present, and with less supply coming in, the demand on the reservoirs remains high, meaning they are not filling fast enough to support the pumps engaging to supply the high areas. He advised residents to reduce water usage to enable the reservoirs to recover faster because tankers are sufficient to service all affected communities.
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