In continuous efforts to ramp up interventions to affected communities faced with severe water shortages in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), in collaboration with the municipality, is fast-tracking the repair and upgrade of water infrastructure in the metro and surrounding areas.

DWS reported last month that the Algoa Water Supply System, which provides water to five dams in the vicinity, continues to decline on a weekly basis, recording 12.0% this week.

This is compared with a similar period last year when the system stood at 33.8%.

“One way in which we are working to ensure that water infrastructure in the province operates optimally is through the upgrading of the Motherwell and Stanford Road pumpstations,” says DWS spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.

The Motherwell pumpstation has a transfer capacity of 90 Mℓ/d, while the Stanford Road pumpstation is limited to around 90 Mℓ/d owing to 50 cm and 70 cm diameter pipelines.

He adds the upgrade is being done to supplement the additional available water, which is being drawn from the country’s largest dam, Gariep dam, through the Nooitgedacht Water Scheme and transferred to the municipality’s western supply zones.

“The Motherwell and Stanford Road pumpstations will be upgraded to a transfer capacity of 120 Mℓ/d and 135 Mℓ/d, respectively,” says Ratau.

While admitting that much more work still has to be done, Ratau emphasises that the main objective of the upgrade is to pump as much water as possible from the Eastern to the Western side of Nelson Mandela Bay metro.

Meanwhile, Kromrivier dam, which is on the Algoa Water Supply System, has yet again declined from last week’s 9.3% to 8.6% this week.

Impofu dam is at 10.3%, representing a slight increase from 10.1% last week.

Kouga dam remains at 12.8%, when at this time last year it recorded 4.0%.

Also having declined is Groendal dam on the Swartkops river at 21.5% from last week’s 21.3%, while Loerie dam has also declined from 43.6% to 42.2%.

The DWS has reiterated its plea to members of the community in all sectors and across all activities, to report and repair leaks in their households.

The metro had to implement a 12-hour emergency shutdown on June 22 for Schoenmakerskop pumpstation and the Churchill pipeline to carry out critical leak repairs, affecting close to 30 communities, including Walmer Township, Mangold Park, Newton Park, Greenacres and St Georges Hospital, among others.