Let’s prepare before our next water shortage

Some months ago we were staring a water shortage disaster square in the face, but after some heavy praying, sacrificing our first-borns and throwing some bones which were interspersed with pieces of Dominos and Sun City Casino Chips, the rains came and come they did.

We were soon looking at pictures of councillors standing at dam sites marvelling at the speed at which the dams were starting to fill.

One such photo had our mayor, “the Boss”, contemplating the Churchill Dam and wondering why the almost miraculous filling of dams was not accompanied by an equally miraculous filling of potholes.

The reality is that the potholes were all filled ,but sadly by rainwater.

Nonetheless for many of us who had for many months been cutting our water usage by having only two cups of tea a day, bathing in the remains from a toothpaste mug and only flushing toilets when we received a warning from the department of environmental affairs, we anticipated a reduction in the punitive rates imposed for water consumption

But no such relief has been obtained.

Now I wouldn’t mind if I knew that this extra income was ring-fenced for funding improvements to the water supply such as new or repairs to old infrastructure and the like, but the council has been as silent as the Sphinx on this issue.

That we will suffer water shortages in the future is a given and that future is perhaps only a year or two away.

So I can’t understand why the municipality, with indecent haste, I may add, removed all the plastic tap farms it had erected around the city.

They were a very good reminder of what still could be.

That the taps and expensive fencing is being “stored” somewhere does not fill me with confidence.

Like the Boss´s mayoral chain, they may be missing when needed next.

So what plans does the municipality have to address water shortages in the future?

Fixing leaks and piping is a dream akin to filling the potholes.

What happened to all the young people who were receiving plumbing training to go out and attend to leaks?

Praying harder or sacrificing another child is not going to cut it.

We need serious attention to setting up desalinisation plants, serious and urgent attention to major water leaks and changing building regulations to include a water tank with any new construction projects.

My message to the councillors is get your priorities right. Forget about votes of no confidence or challenging every new appointment for city administration.

Get the water problem front and centre, and you may see a vote of confidence for a change. Malcolm Dodds