Swartland Municipality will be implementing emergency procedures to address critically low levels of bulk reservoirs as result of continued load shedding.
The municipality is urging all residents across the entire municipal area to drastically reduce its water consumption.
The municipality issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon in which it stated that if residents cannot conserve and reduce their water usage, the municipality will be forced to introduce water rationing within the next 24 to 48 hours.
“This crisis is due to the prolonged period of phase 5 and phase 6 load shedding implemented by Eskom. The pumps responsible for filling our bulk supply reservoirs simply do not have enough time between load shedding slots to keep up and refill. Even though the municipality have some emergency generators, it is not enough to keep all the pumps required operational. Due to continuous load shedding, our bulk water reservoirs across the entire Swartland Municipality have reached critical depletion levels,” the statement read.
This morning (22 September) the municipality again pleaded with residents to drastically reduce consumption.
“Unfortunately, the water situation remains dire. The levels of bulk reservoirs are still critically low, and it seems that residents are not responding sufficiently to the municipality’s request to drastically reduce their water consumption. Emergency procedures will now be implemented, and residents will periodically experience low flow rate and low water pressure.
The cooperation of every resident in the municipality is critically important to avoid water interruptions.”
Mayor Harold Cleophas added: “We are asking all residents to please use water sparingly. Use only what you need. This is an unprecedented situation, and we are doing our very best to manage the situation. The cooperation of residents is critical to how this plays out over the next 24 to 36 hours. We are well trained in saving water and I am confident that our residents will act in the interest of our broader community. This is not a situation of our own making, but the unfortunate failures of National Government adversely impacting local governments everywhere.”
