The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has relaunched its Adopt A School water-saving initiative as the metro faces a looming water crisis, with dam levels plummeting to just 39.75%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The metro is grappling with a perfect storm of challenges: rapidly declining dam levels, infrastructure failures that waste over half of all treated water and soaring consumption that’s 37% above sustainable targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water usage has reached 384 megalitres per day\u2014more than 100 megalitres over the 280 MLD target. Meanwhile, crumbling pipes, widespread leaks and meter tampering are costing millions of litres daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That’s over 100 MLD over-target and is clearly unsustainable,” said Denise van Huyssteen, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber. “Nelson Mandela Bay is a water scarce area and consumers should be actively reusing, recycling and conserving water.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fire crisis adds pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Business Chamber, extreme heat and runaway fires across the region are placing additional strain on the already fragile water system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re watching dam levels drop whilst simultaneously needing water for firefighting,” Van Huyssteen explained. “This should be setting off alarm bells across every level of leadership in the metro.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation echoes the near-disaster of 2021, when Nelson Mandela Bay came dangerously close to running dry. Van Huyssteen expressed concern that lessons from that crisis haven’t been properly learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s deeply concerning that there hasn’t been sustained focus on protecting water security since then,” she said. “Nearly half of the metro’s water remains unaccounted for.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Proven solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The original Adopt A School initiative saw 18 businesses adopt 76 schools, tackling leaks that contributed 10% of the Bay’s total water losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more successful was the Adopt A Leak programme during the 2021 crisis. Businesses funded repairs in seven high-need areas, fixing leaks at over 4,200 households and saving 1.6 million litres daily\u2014a 23% reduction in water consumption across those areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That programme showed what’s possible when urgency, accountability and collaboration come together,” Van Huyssteen said. “We measured success in litres saved, and that focus made all the difference.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chamber is calling for immediate action from both the municipality and residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Huyssteen urged people to fix leaks, use water sparingly and invest in water-saving solutions like rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Waiting for crisis levels before changing behaviour is a risk our metro cannot afford,” she warned. “The long-term cost of doing nothing is far greater than the cost of acting now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the challenges, Van Huyssteen believes Nelson Mandela Bay remains “the most fixable metro in the country” with tremendous growth potential\u2014but only with coordinated action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses interested in supporting the water interventions can contact Cay-Lin Liberty at risk@nmbbusinesschamber.co.za.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The metro is grappling with rapidly declining dam levels, infrastructure failures and soaring consumption that’s 37% above sustainable targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"73","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"60","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"3","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"1","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"0","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[7874,91],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-295649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-local-news","tag-top"],"yoast_head":"\n