Solly Msimanga, the Mayor of Tshwane, says Rand Water has confirmed that the city has achieved the required 15% water reduction as required by the National Department of Water and Sanitation to remove water restrictions
However, the capital city is not out of the danger zone yet and he appealed to all customers to conserve water by using this precious resource sparingly.
The Mayor’s comments, made during a visit to the Rietvlei Nature Reserve recently, come after the national Department of Water and Sanitation published a notice in the Government Gazette on 12 August compelling municipalities that draw water from the Vaal Integrated River System to reduce water consumption by 15%.
“Rand Water, our main source of water supply, called on municipalities across Gauteng to reduce the supply of water by 15% or face the prospect of a complete system crash as dam levels continued to dwindle to unprecedented levels.
“Tshwane’s water restrictions were in effect from 13 September and a drive was launched to inform residents of the restrictions and implore them to use water sparingly,” said the Mayor.
Residents were also urged not to irrigate their gardens with a hosepipe or sprinkler between 6am and 6pm; not wash vehicles with hosepipes and only use buckets; not fill swimming pools; not irrigate golf courses with municipal water and not irrigate municipal parks and road island
Tshwane has 165 reservoirs and has a water demand (water usage) of 970 million litres per day.
Mayor Msimanga said 90% of the city’s reservoirs are currently sitting at a level of 70% or more putting the city in a safe position.
Only three reservoirs currently have a water level of less than 50% – they are Park More (39.6%), Atteridgeville (47.5%) and Suiderberg (45%).
He said some areas in the city, including Laudium, Atteridgeville, Soshanguve and Lynnwood, had occasionally experienced having no water in recent weeks as a result of reservoirs running dry.
However, the system has since improved and stabilised, and no area has been without water in the past week.
The Mayor said to date, 120 complaints have been received by Metro Police on water restrictions related incidents and 40 people have been caught transgressing water restrictions in Laudium, Centurion, Garsfontein and other Pretoria East areas. They have been issued with notices.
Mayor Msimanga said the city was constantly monitoring reservoir levels.
