GQEBERHA – Nearly two months after heavy rains replenished Nelson Mandela Bay’s dams, many residents continue to face water outages as the metro’s distribution system struggles to recover from repeated infrastructure failures.
The 6 June update comes weeks after heavy rainfall in May filled the metro’s supply dams and ended concerns over dwindling raw water reserves. Despite this, residents across several suburbs have continued to endure recurring outages caused by failures within the municipality’s water distribution infrastructure rather than a shortage of available water.
According to the municipality, most of the recent infrastructure failures affecting the water supply system have been resolved. However, because the metro operates on an integrated water distribution network, disruptions in one part of the system can still affect multiple supply zones.
The municipality said the Emerald Hill, Heatherbank, Lovemore and Upper Tank reservoir zones remain depleted, resulting in ongoing water disruptions for consumers in those areas.
Residents supplied by the Chelsea zone are also experiencing interruptions due to critically low reservoir levels, while low reservoir levels in the Airport and Driftsands zones continue to cause reduced water pressure and intermittent supply.
In the Malabar and Gelvandale zones, the municipality said sporadic water disruptions are continuing as reservoir levels recover slowly.
Despite these challenges, the municipality reported that all other supply zones remain stable and consumers are receiving water.
Several strategic reservoirs remain under pressure, with Airport Reservoir at just 1%, while Rosedale, Lovemore Heights and Upper Tank reservoirs are currently empty. Chelsea and Emerald Hill reservoirs each stand at 8%, Gelvandale at 6% and Malabar at 10%, according to the municipality.
Although reservoir levels have improved in some areas, the municipality warned that the system remains vulnerable to operational failures and that residents in several suburbs may continue to experience intermittent supply, low water pressure or no water.
Areas identified as being at risk include parts of Rosedale, Kabah and Langa, as well as Mountain View, MacNaughton, Fairbridge Heights, Motherwell, iKamvelihle, Wells Estate, Bluewater Bay, St George’s, Walmer Township, Walmer, Glen Hurd, Newton Park, Schauderville, Mangold Park, Greenacres, Perridgevale, Adcockvale, Parsons Hill, Glendinningvale, Mill Park, Linkside, Mount Croix, Richmond Hill, Central, Rowallan Park, Greenbushes, Bridgemeade, Hunters Retreat, Kabega Park, Parsons Ridge, Parsonsvlei, Francis Evatt Park, Morningside, Baywest, Sherwood, Lorraine, Malabar, Barcelona, Gelvandale, Bloemendal Extensions, Chatty, Booysens Park, 7de Laan, Walmer Heights, Greenshields Park, Fairview, Walmer Downs and KwaNobuhle.
The municipality said operational teams are continuing to deploy water tankers to communities experiencing prolonged outages, while optimising water treatment and pumping operations, monitoring reservoir levels and implementing measures to stabilise the water supply system.
Residents and businesses have again been urged to use water sparingly, avoid non-essential water consumption and report leaks promptly to reduce unnecessary water losses as efforts continue to restore the metro’s water supply.
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