Kei Mouth residents dig in to clear springs in bid to boost water supply

Residents of Kei Mouth in the drought-stricken Amathole district have resorted to restoring the settling ponds of a pair of old water springs that the town used to get all its water from. But they say the springs will provide only half the amount needed. The Amathole district faces a water crisis, with the municipality introducing severe water restrictions.

The water supply is switched off every day from 6pm to 6am. The crisis is due to the Cwili Dam, which supplies the coastal town of Kei Mouth, being at 0% capacity. Brendon Freitag, who brought fellow residents together to clear the silted-up and overgrown spring, said they had to try all solutions and avenues to get relief.

“We do not have water as the Cwili Dam is at 0%, so we’re not getting any water from there,” he said. “The water gets switched off at 6pm until 6am the following morning — this is making life exceptionally difficult. “There is a little bit coming in from the rationed water.

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But the things we are implementing will give us only about 40% of the water that the town uses. “After seeing how much water was running directly into the sea from the two springs in the dunes, the people got together with wheelbarrows and spades and cleaned out the settling ponds that feed the reservoir.” Freitag said the municipality picked up on what the residents were doing and helped by sending a contractor to another spring in the area. But another problem was that the settling dams that hold the water had aged infrastructure.

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