A CONTINGENCY plan was set in motion by the Blue Crane Route Municipality as from March 5 to address the chronic water supply problems that residents of Somerset East have been experiencing.
Residents of Somerset East have been experiencing water problems for a long time. Sometimes certain parts of town have no water for up to a day at a time and sometimes for short periods only.
Some schools have had to close early at times as they had no water supply.
According to Nigel Delo, acting municipal manager of the Blue Crane Route Municipality, the first step of the plan was to implement water restrictions effective from March 7 until further notice.
He admitted that the BCRM was facing a water crisis, that raw water level dams were low due to the drought and that routine maintenance had not been done timeously.
In the meantime workers attempted to address the serious problem of a blocked pipe line from Lake Bertie/Orange Fish water treatment works Somerset East/Cookhouse) but to no avail and therefore the assistance of Aurecon and Bosch Munitech has been requested.
Other key matters in the contingency plan will also be addressed promptly and hopefully completed by the end of this month.
These matters are:
. Emergency equipment to be purchased in order to deliver to areas where no water is available;
. Furrows to be cleaned and mud to be removed from Lake Bertie;
. Application to be made to the Department of Water Affairs for a grant to fund refurbishing boreholes;
. Leaks at the Hill Reservoirs to be repaired;
. Re-negotiating water quantities with the Somerset East Irrigation Board;
. Submission to increase water rights to the Department of Water Affairs (Somerset East and Cookhouse);
. Implementation of a job card system to ensure productivity; and
. Streamlining of functions between water staff and Bosch Munitech.
Plans are also in place to implement a drought relief project in order to minimise water losses.
These include the installation of a pipeline between Bestershoek and the Westview reservoirs by the end of June this year.
Residents have expressed their relief to learn that a plan has been put in place to address the frustrating water problems.
According to one resident, “On paper it looks fine but I will only believe the plan is working when we have clean water in the pipes.
“Also, I am glad to know that communication with the community is to be done in future as then at least we can be prepared for a water crisis.”
To report water leakages and other water related problems, contact the Technical Services Department on 042 243 6400.
