If residents don’t take responsibility for their water consumption and management right now, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s taps could run dry within the next eight months.
These were the grim words of Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Nqaba Bhanga, during a recent press conference to discuss the metro’s ongoing water crisis.
“If we don’t take responsibility now, it could mean that every resident, regardless of level, class, race or location, would have to go and queue at a water tanker,” Bhanga warned.
He said that the National Department of Water restricted the metro’s water usage to 268ML per day and they have to act with speed when it comes to managing the Bay’s water shortage.
“That is why I’ve elevated the drought problem to my office to make sure that for the people in the water and sanitation department, whatever they need, I’m able to make it easy for them to assist us in fighting the drought.
“We can only do that by working with the people,” he explained.
During the press conference, Bhanga, along with acting director for infrastructure and engineering, Joseph Tsatsire, also discussed short-, medium- and long-term interventions to deal with the water crisis.
One of the short-term interventions is the installation of water flow restrictors in residents’ water meters, controlling and limiting the flow of water to each resident across the metro.
Residents using more than the stipulated 500 litres per household or 15 kilolitres per month will have their water use restricted.
According to Tsatsire, the fitting of water flow restrictors will be rolled out across the metro, targeting those that consume more than 15 kilolitres monthly.
“They will be restricted to 500 litres per household, cumulatively to 15 kilolitres on a monthly basis.
“Following a failed warning notice to a high water-user, municipal water technicians will be despatched to install a water restrictor on the resident’s water meter,” Tsatsire emphasised.
To lead by example, Bhanga said that he will have a water flow restrictor installed at his house this week.
“It starts with the first house and first office, which is that of the mayor. I must be an example in leading this campaign. I want to appeal to some of those who are in positions of power, our CEOs and businesses, to join in the call of managing water because we manage better together,” Bhanga said.
“We can no longer treat the water situation as normal. It needs drastic measures to save our livelihoods. The eventuality of having dry taps has huge repercussions for the economy and our desperate need for the creation of jobs.”
“We need to act now before it is too late.”
He added that his office has developed a plan to monitor progress in several intervention areas and identified water leaks as an urgent priority. “My office has developed a dashboard to monitor the progress of fixing leaks, turnaround time to respond and the time it takes to fix a leak. This data will be analysed closely to make sure that there is drastic improvement in these areas. Water Services officials will have to account to me for any incompetence.
“We cannot expect our people to work with us and yet we are losing about 25% of our water through leaks. That is unacceptable.”
Tsatsire explained that other short-term plans include the installation of a barge at the Impofu Dam that will boost the system with 30ML per day. “Medium-term plans include the completion and commissioning of the Nooitgedacht Low Level Scheme phase three, which is expected to be ready by September this year. Upon completion, the total peak supply capacity will be 210ML per day,” he said.
Longer term plans that the metro hopes to start implementing and commissioning include the Coegakop Water Treatment Works, expected to be completed by September 2022, and the desalination of sea water that the metro hopes to start implementing within two years.
The metro’s spokesperson for the South African Weather Service, Garth Sampson, said on his Facebook page, Weather Guru, that if the metro did not receive around 10mm of rain before the end of the month, Port Elizabeth Airport would experience the driest combined figure on record for January and February (since figures were first recorded in 1900).
“With the seasonal forecast showing no clear signal for above or below normal rainfall, the future is looking dismal.”
