Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is urging residents to use less water as the prolonged high stages of load shedding have an impact on water supply operations.
It said higher-lying areas where water needs to be pumped to properties are affected, and residents across the city are urged to use less water immediately as it aims to reduce collective water use to 850 million litres a day.
Acting mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Councillor Siseko Mbandezi, said using less water will help maintain the supply during the high stages of load shedding.
Currently, Eskom implemented Stage 6 load shedding.
High-lying or mountainous areas which rely on water pumping stations are at more immediate risk of low or no water pressure.
Affected areas include the Somerset West region, De Novo, Kraaifontein, including Belmont Park, Eikendal, and Scottsville, as well as the Deep South from Simon’s Town to Murdoch Valley and Hout Bay.
“The challenge is that reservoirs are not able to fill up fast enough because of the prolonged period of load shedding while residents are also using lots of water at the same time.
“Using less water will help deal with operational challenges, notably due to heavy load shedding, which is impacting on our water treatment plants and ability to convey good quality drinking water to reservoirs and areas across Cape Town, especially to high-lying areas, where the water has to be pumped,” Mbandezi said.
Water supply operations and usage is being closely monitored by City of Cape Town teams.
Mbandezi said his department is doing all it can to maintain supply.
“We also need our residents to help us during this time by using less water,” Mbandezi added.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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