Pietermaritzburg residents have to brace for possible disruptions to water supply as the municipality prepares for water curtailment measures that are being imposed to reduce water usage.

A public notice from the Msunduzi Municipality has warned residents that they may have to contend with occasional water outages as a result of the water curtailment measures that are coming to effect today.

The move comes after water curtailments were announced by uMngeni-uThukela Water. The curtailments will result in the reduction of the volume of water supplied to Msunduzi Local Municipality, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and the uMgungundlovu District Municipality.

The Water and Sanitation national department had directed Umngeni-Uthukela Water Board to reduce the amount of water extracted from the uMngeni water system. More water was being extracted than the licence allowed.

In a notice to residents, Msunduzi warned that as a result, there will be a reduction in water pressure and occasional water outages.

“To comply, the Msunduzi Municipality will be implementing pressure reduction initiatives, restrictions on reservoir outlets, meter flow control measures, and disconnections for illegal infrastructure and tampered infrastructure. As a result, communities may experience low water pressure in certain areas and occasional water outages. It is important to note that there will be no set schedule for these reductions, as pressure will be lowered across the system to manage demand.”

The municipality has called on residents to reduce their water usage, and industries were encouraged to lower their water volume to help conserve storage. 

Anthony Waldhausen, CEO of the Msunduzi Association of Residents Ratepayers and Civics (MARRC), said there has been less rain and dam levels are low, which is the reason for the water curtailment.

However he said water losses were not being dealt with the appropriate urgency.

“We are deeply concerned about the inaction by the Msunduzi Municipality to manage water wastage due to leaks and outages throughout the city. We have witnessed multiple pipe bursts, and where residents have been vigilant and played their civic duty to report water leakages to the municipality, the municipality is neglecting its duty to repair these leakages on time. We have noted reported water leaks with reference numbers that haven’t been repaired for ages, some for more than a year.”

He added that residents should monitor their water consumption during the curtailment times against their municipal accounts, as there should be less water consumption, and the usage amount should also be lower during the water outages and curtailment.

ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand said: “It is a fact that due to the lack of proper management of our water resources, Umngeni Water has imposed these curtailment measures. Wastage and theft are the main reasons for this situation. The administration must be held accountable, and consequence management implemented.”

“The ACDP demands the immediate enforcement of our credit control policy, the removal of incompetent administrators, and the implementation of the indigent policy to help the poor,” stated Niemand.

DA Msunduzi councillor Douglas Roberts said the party had noted the latest public announcement by the municipality regarding the water curtailment. 

“Residents are being made to account for the failures of the city that has not addressed water losses. The estimated 28% water loss is a damning statistic, and the decision to burden paying customers with the costs of subsidising non-paying customers is a blatant attempt to shift the blame and justify their own ineptitude.”

“The revelations have angered some residents, who said this could have been avoided had the municipality done its job to fix water leaks, and they fear it could worsen the water supply problem.”

Residents took to the city’s social media pages to express their concerns. One resident said: “Absolutely disgraceful, this municipality has never maintained or replaced the worn out water pipes and so wasted millions of litres of water daily and now were punished by increase in the cost of our water on our municipal bill and now we’re going to have less water or no water!”

THE MERCURY

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