Grahamstown's water supply will be interupted for most of the day on Tuesday 3 June, as Amatola Water tackles the next task in sorting out the town's water supply and connections.
Grahamstown's water supply will be interupted for most of the day on Tuesday 3 June, as Amatola Water tackles the next task in sorting out the town's water supply and connections.
Chris Nair, who heads the Amatola Water team in Makana, this morning sent a notice of a planned shut-down next week – the first of several planned during the month of June.
"There will be a shut-down of the supply line to the intermediate reservoir and CBD between 9am and 3pm due to a planned tie-in into the new Rhodes University pipeline," Nair said in a notice posted on social media.
He said the planned shut-downs would be long ones.
"It's hard to find a period when water usage is low," he told Grocott's Mail, apologising for the inconvenience. "But every week there's something going on in Grahamstown."
"We will ensure that reservoirs are full at the time but consumers are requested to use water sparingly during this time to avoid reservoirs from going down too low," Nair said in the notice.
He said the high-lying areas might have low pressure or complete interruptions of supply if residents don't use water sparingly.
"Amatola Water teams will also be installing new valves at Howieson's Poort pump station, as well as some air valves along the rising main from Howieson's Poort Dam to Waainek WTW, during the same shut down, as part of the Crisis Intervention Project," Nair said.
He told Grocott's Mail that the second Howieson's Poort pump would be returning from repairs on Monday.
He warned that while the shut-down had been planned to last six hours, it might go a bit longer should there be any unforeseen problems.
"Amatola Water regrets any inconvenience these planned shut-downs may cause but due to the critical nature of these interventions it has become extremely necessary to proceed with them over the next few days and the months ahead."
He said the work was towards the refurbishment of the bulk water infrastructure in Grahamstown.
Nair said any delays would increase risks and further compromise the normal supply of water to Grahamstown.
"Therefore, we may all need to bite the bullet now rather than later, to ensure that these water supply risks are swiftly addressed," he said.
According to Nair, over the past six months, they have been gearing up, together with Makana Municipality, to be able to meet the current water demand of the city.
They also aim to be in a better position to meet the extra demand during the National Arts Festival and other special events in Grahamstown.
"The National Arts Festival in July will be a big one, for which we have been planning our projects around over the last few months."
He said Amatola aimed to ensure uninterrupted water supply of SANS 241 quality.
"We are therefore requesting all consumers to please use water wisely and responsibly," he said.
