Water headache continues in city
Water woes seem to continue for residents of Polokwane and surroundings areas after the latest extended no-supply period of water started on March 5 and only ended days later.
Residents had to come up with creative ways to spare the little water they had or spend money to buy water for necessities.
On social media, residents are vocal about the fact that these stoppage in water supply is not communicated in time.
“If the municipality was consistent in alerting people about the situation, then residents will be able to put measures in place to ensure they have water for necessities. But this is left until the last minute and we are left with no option but to buy purified water to bathe and cook. Unless you have friends with boreholes, you are left out in the cold.”
A notice issued by the municipality on March 8, stated that the municipality was aware that most areas were experiencing water stoppages and low pressure due to a high demand.
“The municipality is doing everything in its power to ensure that supply is restored to normality. In the meantime water tankers will assist all affected areas with supply. All areas receiving supply are urged to use water sparingly,” the statement reads.
A day later the Manganese water treatment plant was out of operation after a 11kv circuit breaker exploded leaving an electrical challenge.
In a statement that followed, all areas supplied by the Potgieter reservoir experienced water shortages for the duration of the downtime.
This included Ladanna, Nirvana, Emdo and neighbouring areas, and water tankers were again deployed to provide temporary relief.
That Friday, the municipality released an update saying that the shortages would still continue due to a high demand and loadshedding at the Ebenezer plant.
According to the statement released by the municipality, Lepelle Northern Water indicated that load-shedding would result in a two-hour stoppage of water supply to Polokwane.
The next Tuesday, another notice was issued alerting residents that the resevoir levels were still low but that water tankers would be deployed to the areas affected.
Since then no indication has been given on the water supply and residents still don’t have water.
Some of them took to social media to voice out their concerns.