WATER SUFFICIENT UNTIL JANUARY 2011 PROVIDED SAVINGS CONTINUE
WATER SUFFICIENT UNTIL JANUARY 2011 PROVIDED SAVINGS CONTINUE
The water situation in Mossel Bay is still extremely serious, but because of a number of factors which include improved availability of water from the Wolwedans Dam and the commissioning of two boreholes, the town’s water supply is now expected to last to January 2011 if it does not rain enough before then and provided the current water savings trends are maintained, says the Municipality in a news release.
The projection also takes the impact of the expected increased water usage during the year-end holiday season into account.
According to the Municipality recent tests by the Department of Water Affairs have shown that the useable volume of the dam is more than thought until now. It was envisaged that the bottom 5% of the water in the dam could not be used but it has now been found to be acceptable for human consumption and conventional treatment.
The incorporation of two new boreholes, one at Friemersheim and the other at Dana Bay, into the municipal water system is imminent and will add another approximately 1,5 Ml of water a day to the Municipality’s supply. Two more boreholes are due to be commissioned in the near future.
The level of the Klipheuwel Dam, which is about four per cent of the size of the Wolwedans Dam increased from 20 % to 38% following the recent rains while the even smaller Ernst Robertson Dam was 100,1% full at the beginning of the week. The Wolwedans Dam, which at present supplies 90% of the town’s water, was 20,4% full.
Another factor that contributed to the improved water situation is that the Reverse Osmosis plant, which supplies up to 5Ml of purified effluent water a day to PetroSA came into production at the end of last month and reduced the company’s extraction from the dam by the same quantity.
The seawater desalination plant is planned to be in full production by the end of January 2010. This should ensure that Mossel Bay will have enough water at current consumption levels provided that the restrictions remain in force.
“The Municipality is looking at some other options too as precautionary measures to ensure that Mossel Bay has sufficient water over the year-end holiday season. It is an extremely important time for the majority of businesses in Mossel Bay and we are going to extremes to ensure that Mossel Bay still has a bumper season,” says the Municipal Manager, Dr Michele Gratz.
According to reports, there are some towns in the Eastern Cape which have run out of water and where people have to queue at tankers until late at night only to be sometimes turned away without.
“We will not allow that to happen and will ensure that there is enough water provided residents continue to co-operate as the majority of them are doing now. It remains essential that people do not only adhere to the water restrictions but do everything in their power to use the absolute minimum necessary.
“The present limit of 15 kilolitres is not a quota that people feel they must use. Fortunately the residents seem to realise that and our statistics show that the majority have now cut their monthly consumption down to less than 10 kilolitres per month, “said Dr Gratz.
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