Water-shedding became SA's new catchword this week with forced rationing introduced last Monday by Kouga local municipality in the Eastern Cape, to be followed by Durban from Monday.
While Kouga is water-shedding in a desperate bid to push back a looming Day Zero due to a debilitating drought, waterlogged Durban is rationing because flood-ravaged infrastructure cannot purify enough water to meet demand.
Kouga Business Forum chair Dries du Preez said the first week went smoothly.
“It’s fair to say it is going well. We have had no serious breaks or bursts, the system is handling it well and people are managing OK,” he said. “South Africans are adaptable and resilient and we know how to survive. This has been very stressful for some people, but in general it has not been too bad,” Du Preez said, adding that residents had been preparing for water outages for months.
“Like JP [Venter] who owns the Super Spar in Jeffreys [Bay] who has the capacity to catch 40,000l of rain water and took himself off the grid a long time ago — there are lots of guys like that who are positive and see water-shedding as a nuisance rather than the end.”
The municipality, about 70km outside Gqeberha — watersheds 10am to 4pm daily. The area encompasses Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay, Cape St Francis, Oyster Bay, Patensie, Hankey, Loerie and Thornhill.
Kouga deputy mayor Hattingh Bornman said the rationing was the municipality’s attempt to cut water consumption by 60%.
He said it was not intended to be permanent and that a government funding boost had enabled new boreholes to be drilled. About two months of work was needed to get the water up to drinking standard and into reservoirs.
Water & sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu on Thursday conducted a working visit to Nelson Mandela Bay. While at Kouga dam he met a community group from the towns and was invited to join in a prayer for rain.
In Durban, municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said rationing had become necessary due to reduced supply from the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant. “This shortfall will remain for the next 10 to 12 months,” he said, adding that a system of rotational supply was introduced so “distribution is balanced on an equitable basis”.
“Customers are cautioned against stockpiling water as this could collapse the already constrained system,” Mayisela said.
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Umgeni Water spokesperson Shami Harichunder said the shortfall amounts to 40-million litres to 50-million litres a day.
Prof Anthony Turton of the University of the Free State’s Centre for Environmental Management said the flooding caused major soil erosion which caused fine clay to be suspended in the water.
“Each clay particle is electrically charged so they repel each other and are too small to sink to the bottom. This results in excessive turbidity which the current water treatment systems are not designed to deal with. This is where they refer to the production of water,” Turton said. “Production involves the removal of mud from river water and making it safe to drink in a process known as flocculation. It is necessary because water systems are not designed for high loads of silt, and so clog up and fail if not properly managed.”
Neil Macleod from the Water Institute of Southern Africa said the recent severe rainfall exposed weaknesses in eThekwini municipality’s water system.
“The design and construction of pipe crossings over rivers and streams and the location of critical infrastructure requires rethinking to take account of the recent high flood levels which caused extensive damage to infrastructure,” he said, explaining that if this was done, water-shedding need not become a way of life.
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