Dam levels continue to drop

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Municipality appeals to residents to continue to use water sparingly as dam levels continue to drop steadily.

Cognisant of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the requirement for residents to regularly wash their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the municipal Council accepted a resolution that water restrictions be put on hold until the Wolwedans dam level drops to below 50%.

Mossel Bay Municipality implements water restrictions per the Water Demand Management Policy when the main water supply for the town, the Wolwedans Dam level drops below 60%.

In terms of the Department of Water and Sanitation dam operating rules, a 10% restriction must be applied to all residential consumers when the dam level drops below 60%.

At the monthly council meeting on Thursday, 30 July, the Council agreed to a 10% voluntary restriction with immediate effect on all users of potable water.

Dam levels have dropped significantly in recent weeks, and the recent rains have made no real impact. However, from consumer patterns, it is evident that a water savings culture is maintained even though more water is supplied to vulnerable communities for sanitation purposes.

There is currently no risk of water shortages. Mossel Bay is in the fortunate position of having the 15Ml/day desalination plant to produce potable water and a 5Ml/day reclamation plant for industrial purposes.

Added to this is the eight boreholes in the rural areas.

An agreement is in the process of being concluded with PetroSA to utilize 5Ml/day of water from the reclamation plant, in exchange for an equivalent quota from the Wolwedans dam when the dam level drops to below 50%. The municipality's consumption is more or less 23 Ml/day during the off-peak period and increases to around 31 Ml/day during the peak period.

Water from the seawater desalination plant is expensive. It is, therefore, in everyone's best interest to save the water in the local dams for as much as possible.

Dam levels August 2020.