A quarter of the water that should be coming out of the taps of Makana residents is instead trickling away, or simply evaporating, thanks to leaking taps and pipes.
A quarter of the water that should be coming out of the taps of Makana residents is instead trickling away, or simply evaporating, thanks to leaking taps and pipes.
At a Water Indaba report-back last Thursday at Thomas Pringle Hall in the Monument, ageing water infrastructure emerged as a major stumbling block to improving the city's water supply, and Dabula Njilo, Director of Technical and Infrastructural Services in the Makana Municipality, announced a R150 million plan to upgrade the bulk water supply.
He said a R50 million loan from the Development Bank of South Africa to improve water infrastructure had been approved.
Councillors and community members at the meeting hardly needed to be told that the demand for water in the municipality was higher than its availability, and Ward 7 councillor Nomhle Gaga said there were parts of Joza still experiencing frequent water outages.
Apart from the crumbling infrastructure, Njilo said, a shortage of technical expertise and funding had to be overcome before Makana's water problems could be solved.
Njilo said people with technical expertise, such as engineers and scientists, were needed.
To this end, the Development Bank of Southern Africa had provided two technical experts to help the Infrastructure and Technical Services Directorate manage its municipal infrastructure grant (dedicated funds from the national Department of Provincial and Local Government), and its own capital expenditure budget.
Makana's Water Services Plan also included the employment of competent staff, and its staff-retention strategy and scarce skills policy had already been approved.
The Amatola Water Board has been a key player, helping with quality analysis and water testing in the municipality.
A contract has been signed with them for R1.6 million for a call-down service to help the municipality in times of water disruptions.
Funding was the next challenge, and Njilo said the annual capital budget for all operational requirements was R60 million.
R300 000 had been allocated for the implementation of Water Demand and Conservation Management. It would be spent on replacing taps and water meters in households.
To help meet the demand for water, Makana had entered into a partnership with Rhodes University and the Netherlands government in the Waste Water Prototype initiative.
The plan was to develop an Integrated Algal Ponding System, which would allow waste water to be recycled and reused.
Howieson’s Poort Dam was 99% full and Milner Dam 38% full, Njilo reported. However, the two other dams, Jameson and Settlers, were empty.
Njilo explained that the catchment area for these dams was different, and that despite recent rains, the effects of the drought were still being experienced. "Those dams are waiting to be filled with rainwater,” said Njilo.
