Municipalities in the Western Cape have had to readjust their budgets and find money to buy generators to secure constant water supply after infrastructure was hit hard by Eskom implementing load shedding.
In Villiersdorp water trucks were brought in to provide water to residents after a shortage caused by the recent stage 6 load shedding.
Theewaterskloof mayor Kallie Papier said despite the shortage of generators being currently experienced, the municipality managed to buy one in Johannesburg and it would be used to boost water supply operations.
Papier also said generators were also implemented in Grabouw while Caledon's recent water crisis was also resolved through the provision of generators.
"It’s costing us a lot. Even though I don’t have a final figure for all the generators we have bought for our water infrastructure as a result of the higher stages of load shedding, in Grabouw alone we spent R10 million which was not budgeted for. But we had to solve a crisis,“ he said.
Papier said the water infrastructure was hit hard by stages 4 and above of load shedding.
Despite the hot temperatures, the water level at the main Theewaterskloof Dam was now above 60% but the difficulty was in pumping water from reservoirs due to load shedding, he said.
The City of Cape Town has also increased its budget to protect its critical infrastructure from the impact of sustained load shedding.
However, acting Mayco member for Water and Sanitation Siseko Mbandezi said some impact was felt and required the introduction of emergency generators to keep the pumps to the water supply reservoirs going.
Some high-lying areas, including Hout Bay, De Novo, Kraaifontein, Somerset West region and Simon’s Town which relied on water pumping stations were warned that they were at risk of low or no water pressure during high stages of load shedding.
This was due to reservoirs not being able to fill up fast enough after the prolonged period of load shedding.
"Load shedding poses a threat to Cape Town’s water supply as it impacts both our infrastructure and those of our suppliers and service providers.
“The City is working with all stakeholders to manage these risks and has called on residents to reduce their water demand to assist," said Mbandezi.
The City had set a maximum limit for collective water use to be no more than 850 million litres a day and urged residents to use water wisely, he said.
Some towns across the country have been experiencing severe water shortages, including those in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
Due to drought, some of the metro's major dams were reportedly approaching zero capacity. The water crisis was exacerbated by load shedding which impacted on the pumping of water from smaller reservoirs.
Joburg Water also warned that it was struggling to meet demand and urged residents to use less water.
Mbandezi reminded residents that permanent regulations limiting water use applied at all times.
"The current risk for water restrictions is medium, and the City will continue to monitor rainfall patterns.“
According to water expert at the University of the Free State, Dr Anthony Turton, water infrastructure in general in the country was in a far worse condition than Eskom infrastructure.
"We have about 800 wastewater plants and around 1 000 potable water plants in South Africa, and not one of these was ever designed to operate as a stop-start process.
"Load shedding destroys the logical foundation on which each plant was designed, as it means that steady state operations are no longer possible.
“This shifts the burden to the operators, who are generally unskilled in this regard. Load shedding will eventually collapse the entire water infrastructure,” he warned.
Turton also said municipalities should invest in generators for wastewater treatment plants to avoid disruptions in operations.
"I am shocked that it is only being considered at this late hour. It should have happened a decade ago when load shedding started.“
Weekend Argus