NATIONAL NEWS - Residents in Kannaland use on average 100% more water per person, per day than residents residing elsewhere in the Southern Cape. In Kannaland residents use a whopping 314 litres of water per person, per day. In Zoar alone they are using 280 litres per person per day, which amounts to a million litres per month for the town.
The water use of residents living in George, Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Hessequa, Bitou and Mossel Bay amounts to an average of 156,6 litres per person per day, with the lowest water use in Oudtshoorn (121 litres per person per day). The drop in demand in Oudtshoorn has helped to increase the dam level from 31% to 53%.
These statistics of the water usage in November 2018 were included in a report to the Garden Route District Council on Monday, at the first meeting for the year.
Read the full report here: Update on the Kannaland water shortages and the region.pdf
Disaster manager Gerhard Otto said that the two areas of concern are currently Zoar and Calitzdorp, both in Kannaland. He said there is about five months' water left in the Calitzdorp dam (Nel's dam) and that there is enough time to make plans. "Our concerns are currently with Zoar. It is mostly a water management issue and not necessarily 'not having water'," he said.
Otto said the Tierkloof Dam that feeds Zoar is about 40% full, but the dam is very small and, at the current rate of water usage, only holds about a month's water. "It is a water management issue and we cannot provide at the demand because the demand far exceeds what is available," he said.
Drastic measures
Kannaland Municipality's technical services department has been requested to implement drastic water pressure reduction, which would enable enough flow to flush a toilet, but would provide less water to the town.
The goal is to lower usage to 70 litres per person per day. Otto stressed the importance of reducing the consumption of water in Zoar. "We do know that people have vegetable gardens, they grow their own food and we are mindful of that, but at that rate of consumption it is just too much."
Garden Route District Municipality's disaster centre also provided three 5 000-litre water tanks to be placed in elevated areas in Zoar, as these areas would be affected first by the pressure reduction in the system. In addition, over 25 000 litres of bottled water was provided to be distributed to affected residents.
Listen to Gerhard Otto speak on the water shortages.
At the council meeting on Monday a decision was taken to purchase twenty 5 000-litre water tanks and cement retainer blocks (for platforms for the tanks) at a cost of R120 000. Furthermore Council approved the rental of a 34 000-litre water tanker to assist with the filling of these tanks as well as tanks previously placed at water-stressed communities in the rural Kannaland municipal areas, for a period of three months at a cost of R240 000.
Households in Zoar will also receive 20-litre water containers bought and distributed by the municipality to be used during water shedding, at a total cost of R140 000.
Province steps in
Western Cape Minister of Local Governance, Anton Bredell, said the province has stepped in at the Kannaland municipality in the past ten days to assist in the rehabilitation of the Calitzdorp water treatment plant.
"The plant was not adequately maintained and the water quality was poor. Accordingly the provincial government and officials from neighbouring municipalities, including Oudtshoorn, stepped in to rehabilitate the plant," said Bredell.
He confirmed that the water shortages experienced by the community of Zoar last weekend, happen when demand exceeds supply. "The reservoirs run dry due to groundwater taking a while to replenish the tanks. It remains critical that the water supply for small towns in the Karoo are managed carefully, conscientiously and on a daily basis to ensure reservoirs do not run dry. We remain in consultation with the Kannaland council in this regard," he said.
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