Water restrictions may be eased

A MODERATE relaxation of restrictions was being considered, the City said, as residents continued to save water.

Data on the City’s water map for July showed that 397 184 households had achieved green dot status.

As of July, 78.1% of all households were using less than 10.5kl/month, the City said.

Mayco member for Water and Waste Services, Xanthea Limberg, said: “Off the back of these latest results, the City again extends thanks to the majority of residents who have made sacrifices for the good of the City as a whole.

“We applaud every one of you who have resisted the temptation to relax your efforts even during these cold, wet conditions we are experiencing.

“Data reflects that most of our residents understand that continued water conservation, even after substantial rainfall, is necessary to provide a buffer in case drought conditions return.”

Limberg said that given that the water situation had improved with dams slowly but steadily recovering, the City had proposed to the National Department of Water and Sanitation that the water restriction levels for urban users should be slightly relaxed from 45% to 40%.

“A decision in this regard should be made by the end of this week,” Limberg said.

Significant rainfall over the weekend and this week boosted dam levels to 61.94% – up from 59.78% last week.

According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, the Theewaterskloof Dam had reached 45.27% capacity.

The department said, however, that it remained concerned about the water security of the Klein Karoo region, as the Council of Greater Oudtshoorn recently declared a local state of disaster due to critical water shortages.