Municipal pools storm
Residents hit out at wastage as water levels topped up regularly using hosepipes
WHILE Bay residents have watched their pool water slowly evaporate and once-lush gardens wither away, the municipality has no qualms about filling up municipal pools every two weeks.
Businesses, farmers and residents have all been feeling the pinch of water restrictions as the drought-stricken country continues to fight the war on water scarcity.
However, the same authorities which implement and enforce restrictions in the metro are unapologetically wasting it by the mega-litre.
Speaking on radio last week, Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip praised residents for their efforts to save water, but issued a stern warning against filling up pools.
“You have no right to fill a swimming pool when people could possibly run out of water,” he said.
However, following a three-day investigation by The Herald, it appears the municipality is failing to heed its own warning.
On a visit to 10 municipal pools, the reporters were told by the respective pool supervisors that all 20 of the municipal pools were topped up with a little less than a half-metre of water every two weeks on average, using hosepipes connected to municipal taps.
A municipal pool supervisor, who asked not be named, said: “The tap runs constantly at this pool because there is a leak which has been there for about three years.
“When I raise the issue, I am ignored. So now I’m forced to fill the pool from the moment I get to work basically throughout the day,” the supervisor said
The time between top-ups varies according to the traffic in and out of the pools (peaking at weekends), back-washing pool water which runs into storm water drains, and evaporation.
Taking a just under half a metre top-up and an average Olympic-size swimming pool measuring 50m long, 25m wide, and a minimum of 2m deep, the estimated water use is up to 600 000 litres per top-up per pool.
However, not all 20 pools are Olympic size, with the smallest measuring 25m x 12m x 1.5m.
Asked whether anyone would be held liable, the metro’s political head of infrastructure, engineering and energy, Annette Lovemore, said: “No, someone else can push for that action but I’m not going to.”
When informed of the water wastage, national Water and Sanitation Department spokesman Sputnik Ratau said “Yoh!”.
“When water restrictions came into effect, we encouraged municipalities to stay away from that [pool filling], because if residents can’t fill pools neither should the municipality,” Ratau said. Asked whether anyone would be held accountable, he said: “Not really. The bylaws are municipal and we expect them [municipalities] to abide by them and be exemplary.
“I will set up an engagement with the provincial Department of Water and Sanitation, which will speak to the municipality on how it enforces laws yet fails to adhere to them.”
Lovemore said a meeting would be held shortly with the department of sport, recreation and culture regarding the closure of certain municipal pools which had failed to apply for exemption from the restrictions and are under-used in comparison to other municipal pools.
She said the decision to keep municipal pools open last month and this month had followed a meeting in November.
When the metro suffered a water crisis in 2011, it was decided to close the municipal pools for the summer season.
When the decision was made in November to keep the pools open, the filling of municipal pools was exempt from the water restrictions in terms of Section 4 of the Water Services Act 108.
“People have sent in a number of complaints about the [municipal] swimming pools, including the filling up of pools, water spilling out of the pools or being backwashed and going to waste,” Lovemore said.
“The decision was discussed – not formally – and a policy decision was taken not to close any pools.”
But the council approved Phase B water restrictions the following month, with these stating that the filling of all pools, including municipal pools, was illegal under the bylaws.
As a result, pool owners – including residents, businesses and the municipality – would have to apply for exemption to fill their pool based on what it was being used for.
Lovemore said the municipality had received 142 applications last month, with 102 of these turned down.
“At a meeting [on Friday], the decision was taken that pool owners would have to apply to stay open,” she said. “To date, none of the municipal pools has
If residents can’t fill pools, neither should the municipality
applied for exemption.
“The problem is inter-directorate communication – I’m not sure the communication has actually gone to the pools.
“So the pool operators probably don’t even know they can’t use the hose.
“So we can’t take action against them.”
All 10 municipal pool supervisors visited confirmed they were not aware of any communication.
None of them wanted to be named.
“For years, we have been suggesting that the pools get tanks to collect and re-use back-washed water,” one supervisor said.
“We have been asking for pool covers and numerous other things to save water, but our requests fall on deaf ears.”
Last year, Lovemore said businesses and residents would be fined R1 000 or have their water supply cut off if they were caught filling up pools.
On Friday, she said no such fines had been issued yet.
The water restrictions would continue for at least three years pending the completion of the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme which, Lovemore said, “is still on track”.
She said 20% to 25% of water was lost to leaks and, while water usage had dropped, the metro had yet to achieve its initial goal of reducing consumption by 15%.
Should the overall average dam levels drop below 50%, the metro would be forced to implement tougher conditions.
The overall dam capacity at present is 54%.
Provincial Water and Sanitation Department head Portia Makhanya could not be reached for comment.