Urgent action plan launched to combat water shortages in eThekwini
Durban — A plan is in place to deliver water to eThekwini communities affected by the algae outbreak leading to water shortages.
This is according to a joint statement issued by uMngeni-uThukela Water and the eThekwini Municipality on Wednesday.
The water entity and the metro said an immediate plan is in place to relieve communities affected by water shortages due to an upsurge in algae in water.
“We would like to apologise and reassure residents that we are working around the clock to resolve the situation,” the statement read.
“uMngeni-uThukela Water has provided an additional 30 water tankers to add to eThekwini Municipality’s fleet of tankers that are being dispatched to communities affected by the reduction of treated water to parts of the City due to the algae outbreak.
“These water tankers will deliver water twice a day, in the morning and the evening, to areas affected by the water shortage.”
Over the past two weeks, uMngeni-uThukela Water’s Durban Heights Water Treatment Works has been treating lower-than-normal volumes of water due to an upsurge in algae in raw water from the Nagle-Albert Falls system.
Consequently, some areas in the north and south of eThekwini which receive their bulk water supply from the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works have experienced water outages. Some parts of the outer west of eThekwini that are also supplied through the Nagle-Albert Falls system have also been affected.
“While the challenge of the presence of algae persists in the raw water being received from the Nagle Dam-Albert Falls system from treatment, there has been a gradual decrease in the volumes of algae,” the statement read.
It said this allowed uMngeni-uThukela Water to treat and supply additional volumes of water to the eThekwini Municipality.
“However, due to the low levels of water at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant, it is anticipated that it will take between 5 and 7 days for the system and reservoirs in eThekwini to stabilise.”
Temporarily, the statement read, uMngeni-uThukela Water and the eThekwini Municipality would continue providing water tankers to all communities affected by the water shortage.
“uMngeni-uThukela Water continues with efforts to optimise its treatment processes to rid the water of excess algae. This includes using advanced chemical treatment methods to unclog its filters,” the statement said.
“The raw water quality is also being monitored daily and we anticipate the problem will be resolved once the algal count from Albert Falls-Nagle Dam subsides.”
It continued that while the increased presence of algae is not common in the colder winter season, there has been an increased algal count at the Durban Heights Water Works which led to the clogging of filters.
“In order to relieve the communities affected by the water shortage, water tankers will continue to be dispatched in the affected areas until the situation normalises,” the statement read.
Additionally, the eThekwini Municipality liaises with ward councillors to inform residents about the arrival of the tankers in their area. Councillors help co-ordinate the deployment of water tankers in their respective wards.
Residents were also urged to communicate with their ward councillors and check the municipality’s social media pages.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We urge the public to continue using water sparingly in order to allow the system to recover within a shorter period,” the statement said.
On Monday, DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said he wrote to eThekwini’s head of water and sanitation Ednick Msweli asking for more water tankers to be made available to communities in the northern parts of eThekwini.
Mthethwa said areas including Newlands, Ntuzuma, uMhlanga, Verulam and Phoenix spent two weeks without running water in their taps.
Mthethwa said the DA had also engaged with the DA Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation Isaac Seitlholo to request that he intervene to ensure that uMngeni-uThukela addressed the matter speedily and avoided similar incidents, going forward.
“It is unacceptable that in a metropolitan municipality, we have residents that go for days without water and fail to make means available to ensure that water is restored,” Mthethwa said.
Over the weekend, the metro said it is aware of the ongoing water outage and intermittent supply affecting areas in the northern part of eThekwini. Affected areas include parts of Phoenix, Ntuzuma, parts of KwaMashu, Cornubia, Mountview, parts of Durban North, and Virginia.
It said as of Sunday, only one bulk pipeline was open to convey water from the Durban Heights Treatment Works to the City’s reservoirs. This has resulted in a much lower rate of water going into reticulation, which is already depleted.
The municipality urged the public to be patient while interventions to build sufficient water levels on the storage and distribution reservoirs are under way. Water tankers are being deployed in affected areas. However, due to the extent of the areas affected, water tankers are overstretched.
In a statement last week, the water entity said its Durban Heights Water-Treatment Works was treating reduced volumes of water due to filters being clogged by large volumes of algae. This has affected the volumes of treated water supplied to parts of north and south of the eThekwini metro.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News