The eThekwini Municipality leadership is working with uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) to find an urgent solution to the water supply woes affecting the city.
This is as a result of reduced water volumes following the upsurge of algae in raw water.
Over the weekend the eThekwini Executive Committee held an urgent meeting with the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo and UUW executives to discuss the current state of water supply and interventions in place to bring the situation to normalcy.
The meeting included eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba, City Manager Musa Mbhele, the management of city’s Water and Sanitation Unit and all ward councillors.
Mr Mahlobo expressed deep concern at the continuous disruptions and poor state of water supply in the city which has a negative impact on the lives of residents, business, public facilities, as well as the tourism industry.
The chairperson of UUW Board, Advocate Vusi Khuzwayo informed the meeting that a report into an emergency investigation to determine the root cause of the upsurge of algae in raw water from the Nagle-Albert Falls system is expected to be released soon.
Gugu Sisilana, spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality, said UUW is making efforts to ensure that the presence of algae is brought under control.
“This includes directly treating raw water at the point of abstraction at the Nagle Dam in order to decrease the concentration of algae before it reaches the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works,” said Ms Sisilana.
“The Water Board is also using shafts pumps to draw water from the Inanda Dam which it mixes to dilute the algae at the Durban Heights Water Works.”
Mayor Xaba said the city faced serious water reticulation challenges and the leadership is meeting every Friday with the technical teams to receive updated reports on the water situation.
“The councillors would be clustered into groups according to their geographical locations so that timeous information would be shared with them. They will then ensure that they can communicate the water situation to communities including water tanker distribution plan,” the mayor said.
Over the past two weeks, UUW Durban Heights Treatment Works has been treating lower than normal volumes of water due to an upsurge in algae in raw water from Nagle-Albert Falls system which has resulted in water outage to the northern and southern areas in the city, the mayor said.
“UUW reported there’s been gradual decrease of volumes of algae since the treatment is in progress and said the outcomes of the investigation will assist the Water Board to put measures in place to prevent the development of algae in raw water,” Mayor Xaba said.
“The reduction of bulk water from UUW Durban Heights Treatment Works due to the upsurge of algae put a further strain to the city which is already faced with a challenge of demand outpacing available supply.”
The challenges that affect water in the city have been classified as follows:
• Ageing infrastructure which is struggling to meet demand due to population growth;
• Water scarcity due to demand far exceeding available supply
• The challenge of vandalism of infrastructure by criminal elements
• Non-revenue water collection because of water losses, illegal connections and communities not paying for services among other challenges.
As a way forward, the city working with UUW is putting into motion a programme of action that will ultimately lead to a permanent resolution of the water challenges, Mr Xaba said.
The Department of Water and Sanitation has called on the public to use the available water wisely and sparingly, as water levels continue to drop in the watercourses. The department reiterated that South Africa is a dry and water scarce country where every drop counts.
