Water wastage on a larger scale:

IT has been a hot, dry and windy summer for the Nelson Mandela Bay area and the water levels in the supply dams have been shrinking.

With thousands of leaks reported over a mere three months from September to November, the municipality has geared up to declare “war on leaks”.

That battle is now in full swing along with plans to reduce water consumption in general.

There are water restrictions in place and every householder is expected to abide by them or face financial penalties.

What then are we to make of the news that the municipality has been turning on the taps to fill its public swimming baths?

Pool supervisors told our reporting team that every municipal swimming pool was topped up regularly, every two weeks on average, in what could be seen as an apparently profligate use of water.

After all, we are not talking about a few baths or loads of washing, or even topping up an average suburban family pool, as the capacity of the 20 municipal swimming pools is on a much bigger scale.

This is water wastage that cannot be allowed to continue. The water levels in our dams are teetering close to the brink of 50%.

Whether or not you view this as the proverbial “halffull or half-empty” glass, the fact remains that residents will be asked to pay much more for water when that figure of 50% is reached.

This will continue to be the case until the expansion of the Nooitgedacht low-level water scheme is completed and it has been well publicised that if water usage is above the restricted amount, residents are to be penalised pro-rata for their consumption.

Kudos to the city businesses who, as far back as the drought of 2011, were introducing innovative ways to cut back on water usage.

However, why should businesses and residents throttle back on usage yet the municipality blithely continues to hose water out of its taps as if there is an endless supply?

Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip has issued a stern warning to residents about filling up their swimming pools.

It would do him well to look a little closer to home.