Umgeni Water says water supply in areas like Chatsworth, uMlazi and Northdene among others remains interrupted. This is because of planned repairs for one of the high-pressure pipes supplying water to the Durban Heights water treatment plant. Umgeni Water’s Shami Harichunder says residents should expect reduced water pressure. He says complete water supply will be restored by Thursday.
“We detected that one of these aqueducts has a leak in it, we detected in Reservoir hills, so uMgeni water has now shut down this aqueduct three repairs are taking place now. They have to work from inside the aqueduct to seal the leak and we expect it will take 6 days for the work to be completed, meaning that by next Thursday the work will be completed.”
“In the meantime, there will be a reduced amount of water that is being supplied to eThekwini. So, the areas that are likely to be affected are uMlazi, Chatswworth, Northin and the surrounding areas. What will happen is households that there will be erratic water supply or there will be very less pressure in the taps”, says Harichunder.
Cape Town makes investments in water infrustructure
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town says it has allocated over 300- million-rand to new water projects. The City says this will allow them to produce an extra 300-million litres of water per day through alternative water sources by 2030.
Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien, says new water projects include desalination, three aquifer projects in Atlantis and Table Mountain. Three consecutive years of dry winter up to 2018 led to severe water shortages that nearly plunged the city into Day Zero, when there would have been no water coming out of taps. Badroodien says the city has also budgeted one-point-six billion rand for water and sanitation infrastructure across the city for the current financial year …
“We are making investments to the value of R2.5 billion into water reuse, into accessing ground water, and desalination which will be key to Cape Town’s reliable supply and to help us navigate future droughts. Diversifying our water sources will reduce the city’s dependence on rain-fed dams as a main source of our water supply” Badroodien says.
EThekwini Municipality continued water crisis, as the Metro began water shedding. 20 June 22:
