The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is geared up for the rehabilitation and 10-day closure of the Sundays River canal planned to commence from Monday, 24 June 2024, by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
The Sundays River canal is within the Lower Sunday’s Government Scheme (LSGWS) which supplies domestic and industrial users in NMBM. The work was initially scheduled to take place earlier this month but was postponed due to the recent floods. DWS has highlighted the importance of the rehabilitation work as “critical for the reliability and sustainability of supply” to the Nelson Mandela Bay water users and will help avoid the total collapse of the water scheme.
During a media briefing on Friday, 21 June 2024, Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk, urged residents to use water sparingly especially during this time as the Metro’s water supply would be reduced and constrained due to the closure of the canal.
“NMBM remains dependent on supply of water from the Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dam. The available water will be reduced from 210 to 70 Ml/d. Based on storage, Scheepersvlakte only has 10-day Storage at 70 Ml/d. The DWS has agreed to allow us to extract more water from the Kouga / Loerie and Church / Impofu schemes during this period so that we can service our communities.”
“The tie-in will commence from 24 June 2024 to 4 July 2024 and we do not wish for a situation where residents say we did not communicate this adequately. Although mitigation measures have been put in place it is possible that some areas might be affected by low pressure and water outages, in such instances water tanker services have been secured and the positions will be communicated periodically by ward councillors and through radio and our social media platforms.
We call on all residents and businesses to use water sparingly by saving water during this project timeline. We advise businesses not carry out any major work that will need extensive or excessive water during this period. It does not matter where you live, we must all contribute and save water,” the Executive Mayor said.
Areas most vulnerable during the construction period have been identified as:
Nooitgedagt Supply:
- Motherwell / Wells Estate / Bluewater Bay
- Parts of Chatty
- Kariega and Despatch
Western Supply:
- Bloemandal
- Chatty
- Bethelsdorp
- Despatch/Reservoir Hills.
As part of the mitigation plans the Nooitgedagt scheme will supply 70 Ml/d to Motherwell, Wells Estate, Bluewater Bay, parts of Chatty, Kariega and Despatch. While the Coega Kop WTW will supply the Coega SEZ and Markman. The inner-City boreholes will run at maximum capacity.
NMBM Senior Director Barry Martin said despite the recent heavy rains, NMBM’s largest water supply, Impofu dam remained at a low 42% resulting in the water tariffs still in place.
NMB Communications
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