The eThekwini Municipality met with leaders of ratepayers’ associations recently to provide an update on the implementation of water curtailment in the city. The city is to prioritise areas with excessive demands as part of the curtailment initiatives.
Areas where there is high level of water wastage will be closely monitored by the eThekwini Municipality. To manage the higher demand in line with the ongoing water curtailment, the municipality will implement initiatives to manage and reduce the high levels of water demand to ensure that water is shared equally.
This was clarified by the City’s Water and Sanitation management when they met with ratepayers at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC). The meeting followed the implementation of water curtailment in the city by Umngeni-uThukela Water (UUW).
It started on October 10 and will be implemented gradually for the next 12 months to ensure that the abstraction from the uMngeni system is brought to the licenced volumes and is maintained at this level, said eThekwini Municipality communication spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana.
“The curtailment is being implemented to enable continued water availability, including during periods of below-average rainfall. This is while plans to augment water supply are under way,” said Ms Sisilana.
“With the curtailment in place, the city is required to implement initiatives to manage and reduce the high levels of water demand to ensure that available water supply is shared equitably.”
To clarify the issue of the installation of water restrictors on consumer meters, the city’s Water and Sanitation Unit’s management announced that restrictors to control the flow of water and to reduce the pressure have not been installed in any household as part of the curtailment, said Ms Sisilana.
“It was stated that water demand initiatives would not be implemented in a blanket approach. However, the priority is to target areas where there’s excessive demand. Operational teams are analysing night flows to determine reservoir zones with excessive demand. This is being done to first determine leaks and illegal connections on the system for these to be attended to timeously,” said Ms Sisilana.
Residents are urged to play their part by conserving and reducing water consumption.
The average water consumption in eThekwini is very high at 298 litres per person per day compared to the international average of 173 per person per day. The municipality said the goal is not to shift the responsibility onto the public; however, the City is also addressing water losses and leakages.
Ms Sisilana added that ongoing meter installations at various areas are not part of the curtailment initiatives. This project commenced last year as part of the City’s efforts to reduce non-revenue water, she said.
“The project includes metering of historically unmetered properties, domestic meter changes, meter upgrades for industries, commercial and institutional properties, and outlet/zone meter maintenance. More than 50 000 meters have been connected to date, and it is ongoing. This includes improvement of meter readings,” said Ms Sisilana.