RESIDENTS in several areas supplied by the Ridge System in the eThekwini Municipality, including The Bluff, have been urged to store water following a drop in supply resulting from a suspected burst along the gravity line of the Wiggins Water Treatment Works (WTW).

Also read: Water outage: eThekwini Municipality working to restore power

Cause of interruption:

According to the municipality, the pending water supply issue is attributed to a number of factors:

• Reduced production at the Wiggins WTW, as a result of power oscillations on April 8, has impacted production.

• The Wiggins pump station tripped after reservoir levels dropped to record lows before a planned shutdown on the same day.

• A suspected blowout on the Wiggins gravity line has since caused a sharp drop-off in flow, reducing production from 330 megalitres to 273 megalitres per day, short of 57 megalitres per day.

Regions expected to be affected

The following reservoirs in the Ridge System have been found to be at-risk of low or no water:

• Lamont

• Sherwood 1, 2, and 3

• Woodlands 1 and 2

• Bluff 2 and 3

• South Ridge

• Lamontville

• Glenwood

• North Ridge

• Ridgeview

• Chesterville

Ward 66 councillor Zoë Solomon emphasised the gravity of the situation. “Please stockpile water, especially Treasure Beach to Bushlands and all in between down to Tara Road,” she said.

Residents can call the municipality’s call centre on 080 13 13 013 for more information or to report service issues related to this.