The eThekwini Municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water have implemented a crucial rationing plan to safeguard remaining water resources as the network stabilises.
Image: File
Durban residents have been urged to use water sparingly as the eThekwini Municipality working with uMngeni-uThukela Water, has implemented a system stabilisation and rationing plan to protect remaining water volumes while repairs are undertaken.
This comes as water supply instability has occurred across multiple reservoirs and supply zones.
Mayor Cyril Xaba held an urgent meeting with bulk water supplier uMngeni-uThukela Water on Saturday to discuss the challenges facing the water supply system in the City.
The issue started due to a failure associated with the control valve on the Nagle Dam aqueduct system supplying the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works. This led to a daily deficit of approximately 150 megalitres, which caused several reservoirs across the system to run extremely low.
In a joint statement, the City and uMngeni-uThukela Water said the problem with the valve has now been fixed, enabling the Durban Heights Waterworks to begin receiving a full supply of raw water from Nagle Dam for treatment.
“This will allow the plant to process the maximum volume of water and begin replenishing the broader distribution network. However, full recovery of the reticulation system will thereafter commence for a period of two weeks.”
In order to restore stability to the network while minimising widespread outages the City and uMngeni-uThukela Water announced the following steps:
- The City, in conjunction with uMngeni-uThukela Water, will implement a changeover of supply for both aqueducts, the Northern and Southern aqueducts, so that they are supplied from Durban Heights Reservoir 2, which has a smaller storage capacity. This approach will allow for a quicker recovery period and enable the City to focus on filling one reservoir instead of two, which would take longer to stabilise. Reservoir 3, which has a larger capacity, will remain isolated until repairs to Aqueducts 3 and 4 are completed and raw water flows improve.
A rationing plan for the affected systems and reservoirs is being implemented. Under this arrangement, some consumers will receive water during the morning only, while others will receive water both in the morning and afternoon until the system stabilises.
Southern Aqueduct
• Westville Reservoirs: Pumps to Lea Drive and Dawncliffe reservoirs will operate for 12 hours per day, while Salisbury inlets will be closed for 12 hours.
• Northdene 3 Reservoir: The inlet will be throttled to 15% throughout the day. This reservoir supplies Shallcross, Chatsworth 4, St Wendolins, Washington Heights, and Intake Road reservoirs. Outlets will only be opened for 3 hours twice daily.
• Umlazi and other Chatsworth reservoirs: Outlets will be opened for 3 hours in the morning and again for 3 hours in the afternoon.
Northern Aqueduct
• All reservoir outlets will be opened twice a day for 3 hours.
• Only slow-moving reservoirs will receive water continuously throughout the day.
Pinetown Pump Stations
• Pumps from Durban Heights to Pinetown reservoirs will operate for 16 hours per day.
• Westmead Reservoir outlets will remain open, as they will continue receiving supply from the Western aqueduct.
There will be five water tanker filling points, where tankers will collect water for distribution:
• Mobeni Depot
• Jeffels Road Depot
• Pinetown Depot (Halifax)
• Canelands
• Alverstone Nek Reservoir
“A tanker deployment schedule has been prepared to support water distribution to affected communities. The municipality will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide further updates as more information becomes available from uMngeni-uThukela Water regarding repair timelines and the restoration of normal raw water inflows.
“Residents and businesses are urged to use water sparingly during this period while the system stabilises.The municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
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