Africa-Press – South-Africa. EThekwini Metro and Umgeni Water are embarking on rotational water supply in large parts of Durban.
Areas to be affected are those supplied by the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant due to reduced supply from the plant.
These include parts of Umlazi, Ensimbini, Folweni, Chatsworth, Malvern, Queensburgh, Queensmead Industrial, Phoenix, Shallcross, Westville, Pavilion Mall, Clermont, Riverhorse Valley, Cornubia, La Lucia, Durban North, Umhlanga and many other areas.
The recent floods have made it a necessity to control water supply until the supply area is stabilized, the Metro and Umgeni Water said in a joint statement.
The exercise will start on Monday and the repairs are expected to be completed around June 2023.
Metro spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the shortfall has been caused by Umgeni Water being unable to receive adequate raw water from Nagle Dam because of extensive damage to two raw water pipelines in the April 2022 heavy rainfall. It will remain for the next 10-12 months.
“While Umgeni Water continues to make progress in providing full contracted volumes of drinking water to eThekwini, a shortfall remains and will be eradicated when the damaged pipelines are repaired and re-commissioned. According to a work schedule provided to Umgeni Water by the appointed contractor, repairs to the damaged pipes are expected to be completed by June 2023,” said Mayisela in a statement.
He said to effectively manage this shortfall so that affected areas have access to some water for some parts of the day, eThekwini has introduced a system of rotational supply so that distribution is balanced on an equitable basis. This will remain in place until repairs of the pipelines are completed.
So far, the contractor appointed to do repairs on the two damaged pipelines that convey raw water from Nagle Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant has submitted a draft work programme to Umgeni Water.
Work is due to begin next week.
“The draft work schedule outlines how the project will be implemented in order to bring the two raw water pipelines back to functionality. Both pipelines require extensive work to restore functionality. Sections of the pipelines, some hundreds of metres in length, will have to be redesigned and new sections connected. This illustrates, in stark reality, the severity of the damage and explains why full restoration is expected to be 10-12 months,” he said.
He said Umgeni Water requires, on average, an additional 40 million litres per day to meet in full the amount of potable water that it is contracted to supply eThekwini.
“It is important that stakeholders realise that the shortfalls in raw water and potable water availability and supply will persist until the two raw water pipelines are repaired, re-commissioned and their efficacy restored. It is in this context, therefore, that an appeal is being made for full co-operation and support from all stakeholders as Umgeni Water and eThekwini work closely together to ensure that some water is available to consumers who are supplied by reservoirs fed from the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant,” said Mayisela.
He said piped water supply to many areas remained erratic, which resulted in some communities receiving water and others not.
Both entities appealed to the public to use water sparingly to ensure that all customers have access to some water. They cautioned customers against stockpiling water as this could collapse the already constrained system.
Water tankers will only be dispatched to cover areas experiencing outages, as opposed to rationing.
Information about the water rationing schedule is available on the municipal website, at Sizakala Centres, municipal clinics, libraries, councillors’ offices.
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