In response to the persistent effects of the drought, which have led to acute water shortages, the Department of Water and Sanitation is implementing a number of initiatives to help the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality prevent taps from totally drying out.
According to the department, one of the interventions is the completion of the Olifantskop Reservoir’s renovation, which would increase water supply to the metro by 45 megaliters daily.
Other improvements to the water infrastructure include those at the Motherwell and Stanford Road pump stations, which will raise their daily transfer capacities to 120 and 135 megaliters, respectively.
According to the department, “the Stanford Road pump station is limited to about 90 Ml/day due to 500mm and 700mm diameter pipelines,” whereas the Motherwell Pump Station has a transfer capacity of 90 Ml/day.
According to the department, enhancements at the pump stations are being made to augment the additional water that is being delivered to the western supply zones of the metro through the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme from the Gariep Dam in the Free State.
Dam levels are still at 14.9 percent this week, unchanged from the 14.8 percent reported the week before, according to a weekly status of dam levels report released by the department in the Eastern Cape.
Kouga Dam, which provides water to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, has remained constant at a low 16.5 percent, while Groendal Dam on the Swartkops River has recorded 20.9 percent, down from 21.0 percent last week. Kouga Dam had a 4.0 percent elevation at this time last year.
The Loerie Spruit River’s Loerie Dam has marginally grown from last week’s 46.1 percent to this week’s 51.1 percent.
According to the department, Impofu Dam is down 10.1%, Nqweba Dam is down 5.9%, and Nuwejaars Dam is down to 4.0 percent.
Since then, the department has urged households to save water and only consume 50 litres per person per day.
Despite a few light showers that occurred in some areas of the metro last week, the department stated that “the dam levels in the metro continue to drop on a weekly basis.”
scheduled maintenance tasks for the city
In the meantime, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro has scheduled multiple repair tasks for this week across the city in an effort to cut down on water losses.
The government reported that as part of the scheduled repair, the water supply will be completely shut off in Cotswold, Burt Drive, Ward 12, Kini Bay, Ward 40, and Kwaford Village, Wards 14, 17, and 18 on July 28 of 2022.
According to the department, “water supply will be switched off between 8am and 5pm, as and when operations on the infrastructure take place.”