MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Western Cape MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Minister Anton Bredell, has welcomed the good rainfall the province has seen in general to date but urges caution as the end of the winter rainfall season is nearing.

"The Western Cape is a winter rainfall area and we get the bulk of our rainfall largely in these months until the end of August. While we have generally seen a massive improvement in dam levels around the province over the past few weeks we can never be comfortable enough. We have to urge continued responsible water useage."

Bredell says the province continues with multiple measures to ensure greater water security. These include clearing out alien vegetation in the catchment areas.

"CapeNature has spent R39.4m over the past four years in tackling the problem of alien vegetation infestations on CapeNature managed land. Clearing alien vegetation yields greater water security and environmental sustainability."

Let's not go there
Mossel Bay municipal spokesperson Colin Puren urged residents to use water sparingly.

"The stringent water restrictions and the related punitive tariffs of 2010/2011 should still be uppermost in most people's minds, therefore, let's save water now to avert a disaster of similar proportion.

"While the municipality has the back door option of the largest seawater desalination plant in South Africa available to ensure water security to residents and businesses, the water gained from the desalination plant comes at an additional expense, best avoided if possible."

There are several water saving measures that are easy to implement.

• Turn off all water inside the property and see whether the water meter is still running. If so, there may be a leak that not only wastes water, but results in unnecessary costs.
• Inspect sprinkler systems to ensure that all water is actually reaching the targeted plants. Plant waterwise plants and do away with lawns or plants that guzzle water.
• Check all taps to ensure there are no drips. Hot water drips can be extremely costly in the long run as they also consumes electricity.
• Do not wash your face or brush your teeth with the water running as many litres of water are wasted in the process.
• Rather shower, if possible. A cow needs at least 60 litres of drinking water per day to survive. When next you drain you bath, consider the life of a cow you could have saved by not wasting so much water.

Water security is vital for almost everything we do, which is why it's important we all work together to ease demand on our water supply. Remember, every drop counts.

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