Poor water supply may ease by the weekend

IT is all hands on deck in Nelson Mandela Bay to tackle the poor water supply in some northern parts of the metro.

Municipal spokesman Mthubanzi Mniki said yesterday that water was being rerouted from other areas, all available water tankers had been deployed and repair and upgrade work on pumps was under way.

“The situation should improve towards the weekend,” he said.

The supply problems – which affect Strelitzia Park, Winterhoek Park, Fairbridge Heights, Valleisig, Scheepershoogte, Khayamnandi, Reservoir Hills, Daleview, Heuwelkruin, Azalea Park and Joe Slovo – are related to the upgrading of the Nooitgedacht Water Treatment Works.

The Nooitgedacht works, in Addo, treat water from the Sundays River system, Mniki said.

The treated water is pumped to the Grassridge Reservoir, from where it flows to the Coega Kop, Colchester, Motherwell, Uitenhage, Despatch, Chatty, Bethelsdorp and Bloemendal reservoirs.

“The treatment works [are] being upgraded as part of the Nooitgedacht/Coega Low Level Scheme,” Mniki said “[This] requires [several] shutdowns. “These cause [drops] in reservoir storage and [could] result in certain reservoirs falling below critical levels.”

A shutdown on May 3 went on longer than expected because of heavy rains in Addo.

This situation, together with the nonavailability of two of the four pumps at the treatment works, has caused certain reservoirs to fall below critical levels, affecting the supply to some areas.

The affected reservoirs include those in Van Riebeeck and Fairbridge, Uitenhage, in Chatty and in End Street, Despatch.

Demand exceeds the available inflow and the reservoirs are practically empty, resulting in low pressures and sometimes a complete supply breakdown.

The situation is aggravated by the scheduled shutdown in the Bethelsdorp and Bloemendal areas to repair a long outstanding leak.

“The upgrade work is expected to continue until the end of July this and more shutdowns are planned” Mniki said

“Residents are urged to be patient and use water sparingly.”