The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Metro Police has warned residents and businesses to comply with the current water restrictions, or face the full might of the law.
As the city continues to face the longest drought in its history, which has led to consistent water shortages across the city, the Metro Police is all out to enforce water saving measures, as per the current restrictions.
The current water restrictions, Part C, prohibit the use of municipal water for filling swimming pools, irrigation of gardens, washing cars, building roofs and paving using municipal drinking water.
Under the current restrictions, residents are expected to use less than 50 litres per person per day, take two minute showers, use recycled water for non-drinking purposes and fix or report water leaks immediately.
In March, Metro Police identified areas of concern. Illegal drilling of boreholes has been identified as a serious challenge in areas like Summerstrand.
Building sites, more especially for residential building projects, have also been identified as some of the culprits of using municipal drinking water for building purposes.
Metro Police said that they are impressed with the improvement by car wash businesses in complying with water restrictions.
“The compliance patrols are showing some improvements; however, we remain concerned about a number of car washers that continue to use municipal water for their car wash businesses in areas like Sidwell.
“Car washers are required to use recycled or rain harvested water,” said Metro Police Commissioner, adv Andrew Moses.
The metro’s current water consumption is more than 280 million litres, which is way too high as the required consumption as per the Department of Water and Sanitation directive, should be 230 million litres per day.
Commissioner Moses said the Metro Police will intensify its operations to enforce compliance. Those found guilty of non-compliance can receive fines of up to R5 000.
