Call to stay indoors; drink water

THE SA Weather Service has advised residents to stay indoors and keep hydrated as another heatwave may be on the horizon.

Forecaster Venicia Phakula yesterday said temperatures had shown signs of dropping with chances of slight showers owing to the presence of clouds.

She said residents should expect rainfall today, with the weather remaining warm in the low 30°C range.

However, Phakula said from tomorrow, the temperatures would pick up again and remain high going into next week.

“It does appear that residents can expect another heatwave for the weekend and for the beginning of next week.”

Phakula said with the impending heat, it was still very important for residents to ensure they stayed indoors and kept hydrated by drinking water.

She said often times they found that some people were of the belief that as long as they drank liquids they would be fine during the heat, but that was not the case.

“You find that people end up drinking sweet or alcoholic beverages and that is not advisable.

“The best way to keep hydrated is to drink water more than anything else.”

Rand Water has also urged residents to use water sparingly during this time.

Spokesperson Justice Mohale said even though they were working hard to manage the water demands of municipal and industrial customers in Gauteng, the North West, Free State and Mpumalanga provinces, they were still experiencing a strain on the system.

Mohale said the strain on water supply was due to the current combination of extremely high temperatures, virtually little to no rainfall in their areas of supply and high water consumption levels.

“We are continuously monitoring all our reservoir levels and those of our customers.”

He added that while they had taken note of measures adopted by municipalities in easing up the strain, by issuing water restrictions where applicable, it was important that consumers also joined in efforts to save water.