I am pleased to announce that as at yesterday (Thursday, 12 January 2018), Tshwane dam levels sit at 90% and above for the four dams that are designated to supply our people with a sustainable flow of water. This is evidence that good governance by this administration goes a long way to ensuring that our people get the services we promised them.
Specifically, the following are levels of dams supplying our Water Treatment Plants in Tshwane:\
· Roodeplaat Dam for Roodeplaat WTP - 98%
· Bronkhorstspruit Dam for Bronkhorstspruit WTP – 90%
· Leeuwkraal Dam for Temba WTP – 100%
· Rietvlei Dam for Rietvlei WTP – 99%
These healthy dam levels are attributable to the generous rainfall in our catchment areas in recent months met with good governance by the DA-led multi-party administration in Tshwane.
Tshwane’s water restrictions were in effect from 13 September 2016 and a drive was launched to inform residents of the restrictions and implore them to use water sparingly. As such the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) confirmed that Tshwane had achieved the required 15% water reduction as required by the DWS reaching a total reduction of 15.6% at as March last year.
After the DWS lifted these restrictions the City of Tshwane then conditionally lifted its own restrictions with immediate effect but not entirely to ensure that we were conservative in our consumption of this precious resource.
To this end we maintained that residents should not irrigate gardens with a hosepipe or sprinkler between 06:00 and 18:00, people are only allowed to do so between 18:00 and 22:00. Residents were also encouraged to not fill their swimming pools unnecessarily and well as to wash their cars with a bucket and not a hosepipe amongst other things. This because we need to preserve water given that we will still in the midst of the worst drought in decades.
In our conservation efforts, the city also educated its residents on the importance of saving water. We believe this should be a habit rather than a reactionary practice.
Despite these high dam levels, we appeal to our residents to continue conserving water by using it wisely and sparingly.
We would again like to thank our residents for their diligence in this regard and encourage them to continue to do so during the summer months and beyond so that this becomes the norm.
The City of Tshwane is committed to ensuring that safe, clean and affordable water is accessible to all and that adequate planning is exercised in order to avoid service interruptions.