It was a bitter sweet weekend for drought stricken Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality as the much needed heavy rains negatively affected a number of water storage and distribution infrastructure because of power outages.
The South African Weather Services issued a warning on harsh and extreme weather in parts of the Eastern Cape. The heavy rain caused a lot of disruption to electrical infrastructure and in turn it compromised water production, pumping and conveyance of water.
Although it is still too early to tell as the inflows continue into the dams, as recorded on 26 September 2023 the dams are at 49,65 percent.
Nooitgedagt was affected by electricity disruption on Sunday, 24 September 2023 at around 12h48. This meant that the plant had to be stopped. Production of ±70% water supply to the NMBM was lost and this caused a deficit of water in the system. Electricity was restored around 22h00.
Motherwell pump station also lost electrical power at around 15h00 on Sunday, 24 September 2024. Electricity disruption at Motherwell meant that we could not transfer water from east to west (Chelsea reservoir). The electricity was only restored around 13h00 on Monday, 25 September 2023.
In Kariega, the main raw water trunk main that conveys water from Groendal dam to Kabah treatment works failed on Sunday, 24 September 2023 at around 07h21. This meant that Kabah treatment work had to stop water treatment production. The pipeline that is located in and along the river has not been fixed as yet because access to the pipe is not possible due to floods.
These incidents caused water disruptions to the following areas:
• Chelsea zone
o Lorraine
o Kabega
o Hunters Retreat
o Bridgemead
o Baywest
o Rowallanpark
o Kragga Kamma
o Westering
o Malabar
o Linton Grange
o Bethelsdorp
o Blomoedal
o Kwadwesi
o Kwamagxaki
o Perseverance
• Despatch Zone
o Reservoir hills
o Mountain Hills
o Khayamnandi
o Despatch CBD
• Motherwell reservoir zone
o Motherwell
o Ikamvelihle
o Wells estate
o Bluewater bay
o Amsterdamhook
• Kabah zone
o Rosedale
o Kabah
o Kamesh
o Kwalanga
o Mountain view
The areas above experienced water disruption mainly because of electricity disruption. The Chelsea Reservoir Zone was further compromised in that during the early hours of this morning another electricity outage was experienced and is currently being attended to.
The following interventions have been made to mitigate the impact of these disruptions:
- Operational adjustments were effected to increase production from Loerie. This was done to increase water in the system
- Communication to communities- The communication departments broadcasted messages to all affected communities through social media and Cllr groups
- Water trucks were mobilized
The metro would like to request residents and businesses to continue using water sparingly as water supply and reticulation system remain unstable and delicate, but the most critical areas will be the CBD area of Kariega where there is no alternative supply.
More updates on a more accurate percentage of dam levels following the heavy rains will be shared on Wednesday, 28 September 2023.
NMB Communications
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