Water hope on the horizon

IN a bid to bring an end to persistent water shortages plaguing many wards under the City of uMhlathuze, the municipality has begun the process of replacing crucial pipes.

Replacing a 400m length of the 600mm water pipe will bring much relief to 14 wards in the eSikhaleni cluster suffering from constant outages of the precious resource.

Water supply to wards 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 30 and 34 has been severely unstable since the beginning of April, owing to numerous power failures and continuous burst pipes.

According to the city, the problem started in 2016 during the drought, but worsened after this year's flooding.

The 450mm line does not pump sufficient volumes compared with the 600mm line, hence if there is a failure on the latter, reservoir levels drop drastically.

Recovering reservoir levels reportedly takes three weeks as, while levels are low, demand is greater than supply.

"More than 80% is required to supply 60 to 70% of the population in the eSikhaleni cluster. If we are lower than this level, the high-lying areas are affected and we resort to water restrictions to increase the levels at the Forest Reservoirs," said uMhlathuze communications manager Bongani Gina.

Commenting on the progress, City Mayor Xolani Ngwezi said this will bring some sense of relief to affected residents.

“The installation and replacement of this pipe is expected to take between one and three weeks.

"This is while we anticipate the completion of a 15 megalitre package plant in December, which will bring an end to all water challenges in every ward of our city,” said Ngwezi.