Day Zero not on horizon for Gauteng as Vaal Dam levels drop, say officials
Day Zero is not yet on the horizon in Gauteng, according to officials.
On Monday, Department of Water and Sanitation spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said although water levels were declining in the Vaal Dam, Day Zero had not yet arrived in the province.
He added the dam was standing at 50.7%, a decrease from what levels were last year this time.
This despite a tweet by the City of Johannesburg on Monday that announced water levels at the dam were less than 50%, for the first time in nearly three years.
The tweet was accompanied by a photo of a sign stating: "Our dams are almost empty - please do whatever you can to save water!"
Rand Water spokesperson Eddy Singo also told eNCA that current dam levels were at 49.64%. Last week, water levels at the dam, which is one of the critical dams in the integrated Vaal River system (IVRS), decreased to 51.5%, down from 53% the week before.
Ratau said Gauteng was experiencing high temperatures and the situation was compounded by slight rainfall which was scarce.
"Another contributory factor to the decline of the Vaal Dam is attributed to the shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands water tunnel for a two-month period of maintenance between October 1 and November 30.
"The effect of the shutdown is that no water transfers to the IVRS will take place over this period as the tunnel was drained for the work to take place."
Ratau said the dam level this time last year was at 86.6%.
Johannesburg Water spokesperson Isaac Dhludhlu echoed the sentiment that residents do not yet have to worry about a possible Day Zero scenario.
He said the entity was still receiving the normal supply from Rand Water on a daily basis except on occasions when they had some challenges.
"Our reservoirs and towers are being replenished daily and we have seen a spike in terms of outflow since the start of the hot summer days [heatwave]. We urge all residents to continue to use water sparingly in order for us to be able to provide a sustainable service to all.
"We are still able to meet our obligation to provide water and sanitation to residents," said Dhludhlu.
He added the heatwave that had hit the city was putting lots of strain on the reservoirs and towers' capacity, resulting in a water usage spike.
"As such we really need all hands on deck to make sure that we protect the infrastructure by reporting all leaks and using water wisely," said Dhludhlu.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation