Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 18-10-2016
As the country battles drought, the City of Johannesburg says it has not met its water saving targets and is now forced to introduce stronger water restrictions to achieve the required 15% reduction in its water consumption.
The city says since the announcement of level 2 water restrictions last month, dams in the Vaal River system have declined to 51%, while the Vaal dam dipped below 30%.
MMC for Environmental Infrastructure and Services Anthony Still says if the Vaal Dam drops below 20%, the outflow of water will be compromised.
“The insufficient decrease in water consumption in the City so far indicates a lack of appreciation for the precarious position the City and the region are in. It seems that water for gardening, which is the most discretionary of all usages, has not been sufficiently curtailed.”
Still says the immediate consequences are more severe restrictions by Johannesburg Water until the full reduction of 15% in water demand is achieved and maintained.
Johannesburg water says if it doesn’t reduce demand by 15% it will have to implement level-3 water restrictions which entails water rationing.
“This is undesirable as it would cause wide scale water service disruption and extensive damage to the water infrastructure which can result in significant water losses.”
Johannesburg Water says By-law enforcement will continue by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department to ensure that residents abide by the restrictions set by the city.
Level 2 water restriction requires residents to comply with the following:
- No use of any irrigation or sprinkler systems for watering of gardens with municipal water and watering only before 6am or after 6pm with a hand held hosepipe.
- No filling of pools with municipal water.
- No washing of cars and cleaning paved areas with a hose pipe using municipal water.
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