KIMBERLEY – Reports of a possible prolonged shutdown of the water supply have made rounds on social media groups as Kimberley residents head to work without water this morning.
This comes as the nightly shutdown of the water supply by the Sol Plaatje Municipality in an attempt to maintain levels at the Newton Reservoir continue to fall “dangerously” low.
Water could be cut indefinitely
“I want to inform you that Cllr Vorster and myself have visited Riverton Purification Plant once again and have encountered one of your officials at the plant. Upon consultation with this official, it was crystal clear that we are on an inevitable collision course with a total shutdown for a couple of days. The agony is for now only prolonged and I made it very clear that we are going to hit the wall very soon. I am also aware that you are aware of the escalating E-Coli levels in the so-called purified water supplied to our communities which shall develop all sorts of illnesses such as vomiting, diarrhoea, cholera etc.”
“As it is, our storage facilities at Newton Reservoir are critically low and declining and once again there is a lack of proper and timely communication by and between the Officials and the Councillors and the various communities,” the message concludes.
Municipality responds to circulating message
General Manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality Phetole Sithole says the issue of bulk supply challenges is well known, and so are the related actions and plans to tackle it.
According to Sithole the quality of produced water is not a challenge at the source, as it complies with SANS 241-15.
He says: “The water quality report by Keith Williams, manager of Waste Management and Environmental Health is an environmental analysis report, while ours deal with produced water. However, we shall engage EHP office to establish their detail, and to find each other. Also, with current, well-known network challenges, to find substandard water at certain consumer points is inevitable. Having said that, an investigation on these issues will be conducted, and a report with recommended actions will be provided.”
“Honestly, I don’t understand why when messages are circulated we only choose what we want to communicate. It will be appreciated if when we communicate to share everything we have at our disposal. I just wonder if the other group got this response too,” concludes Sithole.
Tags: Newton Reservoir Sol Plaatje Municipality