Municipality explains ongoing water shutdowns

WHILE the Sol Plaatje Municipality remains adamant that it is capable of meeting the water demands of local residents, nightly shutdowns of water are continuing unabated in the city.

Municipal spokesperson, Sello Matsie, said yesterday that the water shutdowns were likely to be discontinued from tonight after the levels at the Newton Reservoir had been restored.

“The levels of the dams at the Newton Reservoir have stabilised and are sitting at 15.3 feet currently.” The optimum level is 16 feet.

Matsie said the municipality was obliged to implement nightly water shutdowns as a result of “increased consumption”, coupled with reduced capacity as a result of clarifier dams that had not been cleaned.

“There are six clarifiers at the Riverton plant, each with a carrying capacity of 103 megalitres. As a result of the silt build-up at the bottom of the clarifying dams, the carrying capacity is reduced, which affects production.”

According to Matsie, two of the six clarifying dams have already been cleaned, while the remaining have been scheduled to be cleaned. “This is being done in order to ensure that our production capacity is not affected.”

Matsie said that although there were leaks on the main pipeline from Riverton, these were not major and were not affecting the supply of water to the city.

He reassured residents that the local authority had the capacity to meet the demands of residents, and that water restrictions were not being considered.

The nightly shutdowns, which have been implemented without any forewarning or notice to residents, have continued for more than a month already, resulting in outbursts from residents, who have questioned the ability of Sol Plaatje Municipality to meet the water needs to residents.

“There is often no water in the morning when we need to get ready for work and school. Sometimes the water only comes on well after 6am.” The shutdowns have also been blamed for the numerous pipe bursts in the city.