The recent rainfall in the Nelson Mandela Metro gave the Algoa Water Supply System a slight boost, raising its percentage from a low 12.0 percent to 13.4 percent. According to a weekly report on dam levels released by the province’s Department of Water and Sanitation earlier this week, this is the case.
According to departmental hydrologists, the slight improvement in the Metro’s low dam levels hasn’t done much to improve things, and the water levels are likely to stay low for the rest of the year barring a 24-hour downpour with 50mm of rain to fill the dams.
Kouga Dam has increased from 12.8 to 14.1 percent, Impofu Dam has decreased from 10.3 to 10.4%, and Kromrivier Dam has increased from 8.6 to 14.2 percent. Groendal Dam, which was at 21.3 percent last week, is now at 21.5 percent, which is also up. Loerie Dam increased steadily from 42.2 to 45.3 percent.
The Department has urged citizens to use less water as the current demand exceeds the supply, with the goal of bringing down overall water consumption in the City to under 230 million liters per day. This equates to approximately 180 liters per person per day for all uses, including business, government buildings, civil society, as well as improving the response to water leaks, which will significantly improve the situation.
The eastern part of the province receives water from the Amathole and Butterworth Water Supply Systems, which have above average percentages of 76.3 percent and 100.0 percent, respectively. Residents are urged to use water wisely and to fix and report leaks to their local authorities despite the good levels that have been observed.
The Nooitgedacht Water Treatment Works’ operations were disrupted for six hours, and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro is doing everything it can to help the communities affected by providing water via tankers. The interruption was brought on by Eskom’s essential maintenance work on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.