Weeks away from crisis
Director of Engineering and Infrastructural Services at Makana Municipality Dali Mlenzana answers questions about the current state of Grahamstown's water supply and what residents and businesses should be worrying about.
How long is the water supply from Settlers/ Howieson’s Poort expected to last without substantial rains?
Difficult to say as it depends on demand - which varies by days of the week as well as times. But estimates suggest that Settlers Dam will run out of raw water in a month’s time if no rainfall is experienced in the catchment area. Howieson's Poort can last for about two to three months.
If it runs too low to be pumped, what is the Makana plan?
We cannot pump at Settlers if the level is too low (below 30%), or there will be damage to the pumps. We will then only rely on Howieson’s Poort dam, which is currently at 96% in the short term. In the medium to long term, rain needs to fall in the Settlers Dam catchment area to boost it. The community also needs to conserve water as much as possible. The municipality will also need to deal with losses through pipe breaks and leaks more efficiently.
Are there any special measures to assist essential services like hospitals, police, and schools?
The institutions mentioned are expected to have their own water storage facilities (elevated storage tanks, JoJo tanks, etc), and most do have such facilities. The municipality is able to assist with water deliveries using water trucks in the event of water shortages.
For context, please provide information about the state of supply from James Kleynhans (Orange River). Can this serve all of 'West Grahamstown' in an emergency?
The link from JK can only supply areas fed by the intermediate reservoir. High-lying areas cannot be supplied.
Can Makana use ground water (boreholes) to boost supply?
As it is, there are no boreholes linked to the water supply system of the municipality in Grahamstown. However that can be investigated. Our considering the use of raw borehole water would depend on the yield we are able to generate from the boreholes, as well as the quality of the raw water we would be able to collect there.
What does Makana Municipality advise residents and businesses to do now?
To save water as much as possible when it comes to domestic consumption; to adhere to the current water restrictions as enforced by the municipality and to report leaks to the Fire Department as soon as possible after those leaks have been spotted.
Does Makana have any advice for current users of borehole water within Grahamstown?
As far as possible to use their borehole water instead of the municipal water, especially for irrigation and car-washing purposes. Residents are urged and requested to never to link the boreholes with the municipal system, as it poses chances of contamination with a high concentration of manganese and iron that turns the water black.
What advice does Makana give for the medium to long term? Is the situation expected to improve?
The situation needs teamwork between the municipality and residents in terms of saving water up until we are through the drought besetting the country and we are graced with substantial rainfall in the Settlers and Howieson’s Poort Dam catchment areas.
We can put in place all the required infrastructure for the treatment of water, but we need rain to have enough raw water to treat.
Can Makana (or anyone else) provide assistance with installation of water conservation or storage measures?
Water Conservation and Demand Management (WCDM) is being implemented by the municipality. Through the WCDM programme, the municipality is also working on ensuring compliance in terms of required storage at all plants. There are plans to instal JoJo tanks in low-cost-housing areas, but funding is the problem at this stage and we are pursuing that.
Lastly, the municipality is urging all residents to instal JoJo tanks at their homes for rain water harvesting, so as to relieve the municipality’s water system of a couple of cubic metres of water whenever possible.