City to up water supply by 500 million litres

THE City of Cape Town wants to pump an additional 500 million litres of water into our taps.

Following a request for information in June for solutions that would enable the City to establish water plants, Mayor Patricia de Lille yesterday said procurement has commenced.

Over 100 submissions were received, which included desalination, aquifer and borehole options.

“The urgency to get to these various technologies at the various locations is well understood. The City now has an advanced understanding of the requirements of each site, and how to connect new technologies into the existing water network,” De Lille said.

Water tariffs for 2017/18 cannot be adjusted, but it’s “inevitable that there will need for new water and rates tariffs based on new modelling over the coming months”, De Lille said.

Council will decide on new tariffs in May, for implementation in July.

“Our technical experts scrutinised the submissions and were able to determine, with a significantly higher degree of clarity, the feasibility of commissioning various options, and the time it would take, if procured, to deliver the options,” De Lille said.

“Importantly, the technical experts were also able to improve understanding of the costs involved.”

Dam levels were at 31.1% yesterday, down from 56.1% the same time last year.

De Lille said the City is considering implementing Level 5 water restrictions, which will include penalties for households exceeding prescribed usage.

The current restriction levels are at Level 4B which prescribes a maximum of 87 litres per day requirement from residents.