Leaks cost SA 40% of its water

DEPARTMENT: COUNCILS MUST ADDRESS DAILY LOSS

AfriForum calls for regular maintenance of ageing infrastructure.

SA daily loses between 37% and 40% of its drinking water due to leaks. Although this figure was confirmed by the department of water and sanitation spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, the department said the leaks were not in the infrastructure it was responsible for, but “rather within reticulation infrastructure of municipalities”.

The Vaal Dam’s levels recently plummeted “to levels unseen since the beginning of 2017”. It is currently 37.6% full.

In light of the dam’s dwindling capacity, AfriForum wrote to Minister Lindiwe Sisulu warning about the large-scale problem that water leaks present and requested the department appoint a task team to focus on repairing leaks as soon as possible.

The statement said that in addition to the Vaal Dam’s worrying levels, “the country can in particular not afford to lose water through leakages”.

Ratau maintains that the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), which consists of 14 dams, is “currently not under threat and the expectation is that the summer rainfall in the different catchment areas will sufficiently replenish the IVRS and, by extension, the Vaal Dam”.

AfriForum environmental affairs manager Lambert de Klerk said although the issue of water leaks was not new, municipalities were increasingly approaching day zero, most notably in the Eastern Cape and Polokwane.

But despite this, he said it was an issue that constant maintenance across the country’s pipelines was not gaining the necessary traction to alleviate the amount of water wasted every day.

Ratau said a combination of efforts allowed for the dispatching of “immediate repairs” to infrastructure, proper operation and maintenance of the infrastructure and reducing illegal connections and infrastructure vandalism.

Ageing infrastructure is just one of the issues plaguing SA’s water scarcity, De Klerk said.

“The main thing is maintenance. Waste water capacity is under strain, but we must not wait for old infrastructure to break down.

AfriForum has taken matters in areas, such as Standerton and Bethel, into its own hands, by sinking boreholes to allow community members to get water. It also supplied water to Mamelodi, he said.

Municipalities are approaching day zero