Local artists to fly NMB flag high in Jacksonville, USA – NMBM

UPDATE ON PARTS OF THE CITY EXPERIENCING WATER DISRUPTIONS AS A RESULT OF A DEFICIT IN SUPPLY

The Municipality wishes to update residents that the Chelsea reservoir levels are still low due to the deficit in the system.

The following areas are experiencing low pressure or intermittent water supply:

1.Rowallan Park

2.Francis Evatt Park

3.Hunters Retreat

4.Bay West

5.Parsonsvlei / Westbrook

6.Morningside

7.Kabega Park

8.Sherwood

9.Westering

10.Cotswold

11.Helenvale

12.Malabar

13.Parts of Schauderville

14.Framesby

15. Sunridge Park

16.Parts of Lorraine

17.Parts of Theescombe

18.Kamma Park

We apologise for the inconvenience caused.

NMBM WATER CLEARED OF CONTAMINATION

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s water quality crisis has been resolved. This follows reports earlier this week of a deterioration in the quality of our drinking water. The reports indicated that certain microbiological limits had been exceeded.

This resulted in the Municipality issuing a warning to residents that municipal water from their taps was not safe to drink. Residents were advised to use precautionary measures, like boiling and disinfecting water, before drinking.

In the past four days, the Municipality has been working around the clock to trouble-shoot the whole water reticulation system. Part of the remedial action taken, was to embark on the intensive, rigorous sampling and testing of samples from all the Municipality’s treatment, reservoir and distribution infrastructure to identify possible areas of contamination.

On Tuesday, the Municipal Water Services team, working with the Environmental Health Directorate, narrowed down the contamination to the Grassridge Treatment Works. The Grassridge Treatment Works is a reservoir that was temporarily converted into a treatment facility to assist the water generating capacity of the City through the Nooitgedaght water distribution system.

Following the identification of the Grassridge Treatment facility as the cause of contamination, the Municipality took a decision to immediately cut off water from the Grassridge facility. Subsequent to the closure of the Grassridge Treatment Works facility, the Municipality embarked on urgent mitigation measures.

Part of the mitigation measures was to increase the dosage of chlorine at all reservoirs that experienced microbiological failures, followed by a rigorous sampling and testing exercise to determine if there were any improvements in the system. All the samples that have been taken and tested since yesterday have confirmed that there are no longer any traces of contamination in the City’s water system.

“The mitigation measures that we have embarked on in the past four days have yielded positive quality,” said Joseph Tsatsire, Director in the Municipalitys Water and Sanitation Department.

The temporary decommissioning of the Grassridge Treatment Works has led to a deficit in the Municipality water supply, as the Treatment Works was pumping in about 50 Mg/d per day. Currently, the City’s water consumption is way too high. Under the current water restrictions, the City is supposed to use 250 Ml/d per day and yet it consumes about 275mgl per day. The deficit of Grassridge has further aggravated the situation. A number of areas in the Western Surburbs are already experiencing intermittent water supply.

“We urge our resident to drastically decrease their water usage so that we can make sure that we avoid dry taps. Dry taps do not only affect general hygiene, they also negatively affect our infrastructure, which leads to a risk to our water safety,” added Tsatsire.

Tsatsire cautioned residents to continue boiling or disinfecting water for a day or two before drinking straight from the taps. “In as much as our water is clear of a health hazard, we plead with residents to be patient with us for a window period of a day or two, by continuing to boil and disinfect their twp water. We expect things to be back to normal by Sunday already. The drought that we are currently experiencing is testing our facilities and the low dam levels continue to compromise the quality of raw water.’

PARTS OF THE CITY EXPERIENCING WATER DISRUPTIONS AS A RESULT OF A DEFICIT IN SUPPLY

The Municipality wishes to inform residents that the Chelsea reservoir levels are very low due to the operational changes that are currently being experienced at Grassridge Temporary Water Treatment Works.

This has caused a reduction in the output of the water supply as augmentation was done to make up for the temporary deficit in supply.

The following areas may experience low pressure or intermittent water supply:

1.Rowallan Park

2.Francis Evatt Park

3.Hunters Retreat

4.Bay West

5.Parsonsvlei / Westbrook

6.Morningside

7.Kabega Park

8.Sherwood

9.Westering

10.Cotswold

11.Helenvale

12.Malabar

13.Parts of Schauderville

14.Framesby

15. Sunridge Park

16.Parts of Lorraine

17.Parts of Theescombe

18.Kamma Park

We apologise for the inconvenience caused.

WATER SUPPLY SHUTDOWN FOR PLANNED MAINTENANCE

In an effort to reduce water losses, scheduled maintenance will be carried out on the City’s water infrastructure during the course of this week.

Water supply will be shut off in the following areas between 08:00 and 17:00.

This maintenance will be carried out as indicated below:

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022:

1.Glendinningvale, Central and Mount Croix. This will affect Ward 5.

2.Arcadia. This will affect Wards 33 and 34.

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022:

1.Soudien Road Zone. This will affect Wards 33, 35 and 37.

Thursday, February 24th, 2022:

1. Perridgevale. This will affect Ward 7.

Your understanding and patience in this matter is appreciated.

WATER DISRUPTIONS MAY BE EXPERIENCED DUE TO HIGH WATER DEMAND.

The Municipality has noted a big increase on the water demand and this has caused the storage level at the Chelsea reservoir to drop to a critical level.

This will increases the risk of residents experiencing low water pressure or supply disruptions.

We ask that residents please stick to the 50 litre rule to accelerate the accumulation of storage in the reservoir.

The following areas may experience low pressure or intermittent water supply:

1.Rowallan Park

2.Francis Evatt Park

3.Hunters Retreat

4.Bay West

5.Parsonsvlei / Westbrook

6.Morningside

7.Kabega Park

8.Sherwood

9.Westering

10.Cotswold

11.Helenvale

12.Malabar

13.Parts of Schauderville

14.Framesby

15. Sunridge Park

16.Parts of Lorraine

17.Parts of Theescombe

18.Kamma Park

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience the has caused.

UPDATE ON POWER FAILURE AT STANFORD ROAD PUMPSTATION.

The new transformer has been successfully installed and the power is on.

The stolen air valve has been replaced and the vandalised valve has been removed. Final adjustments are currently being made in the workshop and thereafter, the valve will be installed once more.

At this stage, the time for completion is 20:30. As soon as this is completed, the pumps will be started.

Fortunately, the reticulation system is not completely depleted, meaning the recovery will be faster than usual.

It is envisaged that most residents will have water supply by tomorrow morning however, some high lying areas might still have low pressure for the next twenty-four hours.

We thank residents for their patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused.

WATER SUPPLY SHUTDOWN FOR PLANNED MAINTENANCE.

In an effort to reduce water losses, scheduled maintenance will be carried out on the City’s water infrastructure tomorrow, February 17, 2022.

The affected areas include:

1. Algoa Park, Struanway and Kwaford Village. Portions of Wards 11, 14 and 17 will be affected.

2. KwaNobuhle 7. Portions of Wards 42, 43 44 will be affected.

Water supply will be shut off between 08:00 and 17:00.

Your understanding and patience in this matter is appreciated.

UPDATE ON POWER FAILURE AT STANFORD ROAD PUMPSTATION.

The Municipality wishes to update residents that the new transformer has been installed and has been switched on.

When the power was off at the pumpstation, teams could not see the soot on the low voltage panel. They have further cleaned the inside of the electrical panels this morning.

It was also noted that the low voltage switchgear needs to be replaced. It will take another three hours to complete this work.

Sadly, while the pumpstation was off, criminals stole valves off of the pipeline and vandalised a large isolating valve.

This repair work is also currently underway however, to affect repairs to the valves, we had to isolate the reservoir supplying the Bethelsdorp area.

The reservoir still has water storage left and we encourage residents in the Bethelsdorp area to use water sparingly so that storage doesn’t drastically drop. This repair is expected to be completed at about 16:00.

Once the pumpstation is running, the system will take time to fill up.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.

UPDATE ON POWER FAILURE AT STANFORD ROAD PUMPSTATION.

The Municipality wishes to update residents that the new transformer is on-site. Preparatory work is still underway however, the new transformer will be installed today.

The cables will arrive tomorrow morning and thereafter, the connection of the new transformer will commence.

The transformer will then be tested and safely commissioned on Wednesday, February 16th, 2022, as previously communicated.

Water supply has been augmented to distribute water to the affected areas but we still need residents to keep their water consumption to a minimum until the work is completed.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.

WATER SUPPLY SHUTDOWN FOR PLANNED MAINTENANCE.

In an effort to reduce water losses, scheduled maintenance will be carried out on the City’s water infrastructure tomorrow, February 15, 2022.

The affected areas include Mount Croix, Glendenningvale and Central. These areas are located in Ward 5.

Water supply will be shut off between 08:00 and 17:00.

Your understanding and patience in this matter is appreciated.