Nelson Mandela Bay was formally declared a water disaster by Executive Mayor Athol Trollip.
The mayor formally declared the metro a disaster area on Monday after major storage dams dropped to 38.5%. At a media briefing on Wednesday, Trollip said the city faced a severe drought and had been exceptionally dry since July last year.
“We are faced with a crisis simply because a water provision canal has collapsed which has made it even more important that we save water,”said Trollip.
MMC for Safety and Security, John Best, said that a legislative process was under way for the disaster to be promulgated into the provincial gazette.
“Once the gazette is promulgated and it is published then we can apply to government for additional financial assistance. We believe the process can take up to a week,” said Best.
Infrastructure and Engineering MMC Annette Lovemore, urged residents to use water sparingly and said that 40 kilolitres of water per month per household was the restriction imposed.
“It is a substantial amount of water, we don’t in any way want to put across a message that it is okay to use 40 kilolitres a month. It is probably okay to use between 10 to 15 kilolitres per month per household at this stage,” said Lovemore.
Contractors will have to use recycled water from Fishwater Flats.