Thousands of Buffalo City Metro residents should brace themselves for water restrictions after the council decided the water supply around King William’s Town should be restricted by 50% because of depleting levels at the Rooikrantz Dam.
Although officials were unable to say exactly how much water was left in the dam, a Buffalo City Metro report states the dam is at a “critical level”.
The dam supplies raw water to King William’s Town water treatment works for purification and distribution to the urban areas of King William’s Town.
The approved water restrictions will affect the town’s central business district, Westbank, Daleview, Forthill, Breidbach, Ginsberg, Qalashe, Acorn Valley and Masingata.
This means public water stand pipes and ablution blocks will only be open from 7am to 10am and from 3pm to 7pm to save water.
No vehicle washing will be allowed and public and private pools “may not be emptied, filled or topped up without written exemption”.
The metro wants to reduce water usage by 50% in the region to avoid the Rooikrantz Dam being entirely empty by July.
“The dam will be technically empty by the 10th of June 2019 as (the last) 10% is dead storage of the dam such as mud, manganese and iron,” said head of infrastructure services Nceba Ncunyana in a report submitted to council last week.
The council agreed the water supply pressure should be restricted by throttling the reservoir outlets by 50%.
Residents will only be allowed to use non-potable water to irrigate lawns and plants.
“Fountains must be switched off. Only ponds that support fish may be topped up and then only using a hand-held hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, a bucket or a watering can. No washing [of windows and buildings is permitted] unless necessary as a result of accident, fire, health hazard or other emergency,” the council agreed.
Building gutters must be kept clean at all times, council decided.
“The community is expected to reduce its water demand by the 50% margin in order to avoid emptying of the Rooikrantz Dam. The level of this dam has reduced by more than 55% compared to the same period last year. It has also been affected by water leaks on Amatola Water’s raw water bulk water main to King William’s Town water treatment plant.
“The dam declined at a rate of 4% per week from November 5 until December 3, 2018 when the leak was finally repaired by Amatola Water. The dam has now declined by 1.4% after the leak was repaired. If this trend continues and there are no significant rainfalls in the catchment of this summer, Rooikrantz Dam will be empty by July 29,” said Ncunyana adding that the dam was at its lowest since 2003.
BCM will install water management devices to 10,000 households at a total cost of R80m.
The council approved R84.5m to be allocated to install “an emergency pipeline from Kwalini village to Ginsberg” and upgrade the pump station in Bonke village.
Ncunyana said the removal of Ginsberg from King William’s Town water treatment supply system to the Laing Dam, system would about halve water demand from the treatment works..
“This may extend emptying of the dam from June to October if there is no rainfall from now,” he said.
ANC ward 39 councillor Bongani Dyonase, whose ward includes Ginsberg, Bonke and Kwalini, said: “The people from that region really need this intervention. In December the whole community had no water. If we delay this any further that will give us problems if we don’t push this through.”
Meanwhile Amathole District Municipality has urged residents to use the limited water they supply, sparingly.
ADM spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso said the Adelaide dam level had reached 2%.
"The current supply is likely to last for a week, after which Adelaide communities will experience water shortages. A borehole in Adelaide will continue to provide water, though it is not sufficient to cater for the whole demand.
“Additionally ADM will make use of the Fish River, which also supplies Bedford, to augment supply to Adelaide. The dam mainly relies on the Koonap River which is currently dry owing to drought," she said on Wednesday.
mamelan@dispatch.co.za..