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Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Dam Levels – I was WRONG

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From December 2016 I have been tracking and recording the Dam Level reported figures for Nelson Mandela Bay’s dams – first on MyPE and now on MyGqeberha.

On 19 October the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality updated their official dam levels page on their official web site to reflect two new sets of figures: ‘Dead Storage’ and ‘Available Water’ along with the traditional ‘Current Levels’ figures as well.

Dead Storage is water that cannot be used or extracted for a number of reasons – chiefly of which is that the extraction pumps are not able to get to the water to extract it.

Technically the ONLY figure that matters to the consumer is the Amount available for use and nothing else (see last paragraph below for that equation).

So here goes the apology; “For all these years since December 2016 I have been party to feeding you with INCORRECT figures lulling you into a false sense of comfort about the REAL situation and availability of water for extraction. The actual amount of water available for use in our metro is far less than the initial ‘Current Levels’ given out and widely quoted here and in the media.”

As a result I have added a note and another chart to the Dam Levels page (see below and on the page) that shows the amount of water available for use and extraction.

The term ‘Current levels’ implies that that is the amount of water available for extraction.

Dead Storage is a ‘new’ term recently introduced.

In the context of the figures given out from December 2016 everyone ‘assumed’ that the term ‘current levels’ reflected the amount of available water.

The introduction of the term ‘dead storage’ makes a massive impact on the amount of water available and, to my mind, makes the situation immediately more dire. THOSE numbers should be the only ones put out as they are more of a true reflection of the problem.

So technically the releasing of ‘current levels’ from December 2016 was WRONG as whoever compiled the figures used incorrect data.

Example:

Latest Current Dam Level Average as at 19 October 19.37%
Latest Water Extraction Average as at 19 October 13.98%

For many years we used the Current Level numbers as what was available and NEVER took out the dead storage numbers.

If we really wanted to be pedantic then the total amount of water available for usage by residents, from the dams, will be the following: Current Levels – Dead Storage + Water in Pipes Between Dam and Reservoirs + Water in Reservoirs + Water in Pipes up to Consumer Taps = Total Water Available for Use

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.