AfriForum urges Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg residents to conserve water amid crisis

Durban is one of three cities AfriForum has urged to save water.

AfriForum appealed to Pretoria, Johannesburg and Durban residents to not leave taps running unnecessarily.

The organisation warned of possible stricter water restrictions that may be introduced because of water shortages in these cities.

It said Pretoria, Johannesburg and Durban are already suffering from level 1 water restrictions, but if residents do not comply, their taps can be tightened even more.

AfriForum disaster management specialist Tarien Cooks said South Africa’s water crisis worsens almost daily and is mainly driven by climate change and the increasing demand for this essential source of life.

Moreover, outdated infrastructure, droughts, pollution and municipal mismanagement, which may leave people without reliable access to clean water, are also contributing factors to the water crisis.

“Water is life. Electricity can be generated by solar energy, but there is no alternative to water. Residents cannot rely on their local municipality to share the necessary plans for when disaster strikes and there is no more water,” Cooks said.

“That is why it is important that every person who uses water do so sparingly and have a plan in their home for when Day Zero may arrive.”

AfriForum compiled a summary guide on how to save water before and during a drought, to help residents. The best approach is planning for a drought.

Additionally, AfriForum’s environmental affairs department is putting pressure on municipalities to limit water losses for which the municipality is responsible – including leaking water systems, taps and fire hydrants.

Referring to the City of Cape Town, AfriForum said that during the water shortages from 2015 to 2020, the Cape Town City Council managed to escape Day Zero.

It was due to applying strict water restrictions, cooperation from residents and already having plans for when a water crisis arises and carrying out these plans successfully.

According to AfriForum, more training and awareness must be created in communities to save water and how to act preventively in this regard.

Last week, the eThekwini Municipality announced that from October 10, the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board (UUW) has implemented water curtailment throughout eThekwini Municipality.

The curtailment will be implemented for 12 months.

The water curtailment is being implemented at the directive of the Department of Water and Sanitation who issued a notice to UUW to reduce the volume of water abstracted from the uMgeni system to their licensed volumes of 470 million m3/annum. This means a reduction in the current sales and abstraction volume of 8.4%.

The curtailment aims to enable continued water availability, including during periods of below-average rainfall.

The average water consumption in eThekwini is high, between 270 and 298 litres per capita (person), per day (l/c/d) compared to the international average of 173 l/c/d.

“The risk of not enforcing the abstraction limit is that should a drought occur, there would not be sufficient water in the system for uMngeni-uThukela Water to continue providing the eThekwini Municipality with a reliable water supply,” Xaba said.

The water curtailment is not water shedding where there is a schedule for water cuts at certain times. However, the purpose of the water curtailment is to avoid water shedding by bringing down the total volume used in a controlled manner.

“We urge residents to use water sparingly to assist in reducing the high consumption. As we have indicated in the previous media briefings, the demand for water in eThekwini far outstrips supply and we continue to plead with all stakeholders both our residential and business customers to work with us to address this challenge,” Xaba said.

Some of the contributing factors to the high water usage include rapid urbanisation, ageing infrastructure which causes water leaks and illegal connections.

To ensure residents are not adversely affected, the city will implement the following interventions:

• Installation of restrictors in water metres to all consumers.
• Pressure reduction in the reticulation network.
• Metering all un-metered consumers.
• Improve turnaround time in repairing leaks and pipe bursts through the deployment of ward-based plumbers.
• Community education in water conservation.
• Disconnection of illegal connections.

During this process, the City’s teams will be monitoring the system and managing excessive water demand.

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