Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate has issued a water usage advisory for residents in and working in Camps Bay, Sea Point, parts of Cape Town and Woodstock.
In the urgent circular, the department revealed that it was attending to emergency repairs to damaged pumps from the Molteno Reservoir to the Oranjezicht Reservoir.
The City department said the pumps at the reservoir began exhibiting technical difficulties on Monday night, leading to them being switched.
The process reportedly resulted in the storage levels in the Oranjezicht Reservoir being compromised, impacting the water supply to Camps Bay, Sea Point and the upper parts of Cape Town to Woodstock.
Acting Mayco member for water and sanitation Siseko Mbandezi said the directorate’s technical maintenance team had worked through the night on the pumps.
Mbandezi said while repairs on compromised pumps were still in progress, water supply to Camps Bay, Sea Point and the upper parts of Cape Town to Woodstock had been switched over to the Eastern High-Level Reservoir, which is a much smaller reservoir.
He said the City's advisory was issued not only to notify residents of the situation but also to urge them to reduce their water usage until repairs were completed as this would help maintain the water supply from the Eastern High-Level Reservoir to these areas.
Mbandezi said the department’s operations maintenance teams were exploring the options of rerouting additional water supply to reduce the impact as far as possible.
He also said the directorate would continue to monitor the water supply to the affected areas and the reservoir’s levels closely.
“Every effort is being made to complete the repairs in the shortest possible time frame. The City regrets any inconvenience caused, but it is imperative to maintain our water supply infrastructure network to benefit its consumers,” Mbandezi said.