Mercury Reporter|Published4 hours agoDurban water update: Rationing plan announced to stabilise supply

The eThekwini Municipality and uMngeni-uThukela Water have implemented a crucial rationing plan to safeguard remaining water resources as the network stabilises. Durban residents have been urged to use water sparingly as the eThekwini Municipality working with uMngeni-uThukela Water, has implemented a system stabilisation and rationing plan to protect remaining water volumes while repairs are undertaken. This comes aswater supply instability has occurred across multiple reservoirs and supply zones.

water supply instability has occurred across multiple reservoirs and supply zones. Mayor Cyril Xaba held an urgent meeting with bulk water supplier uMngeni-uThukela Water on Saturday to discuss the challenges facing the water supply system in the City. The issue started due to a failure associated with the control valve on the Nagle Dam aqueduct system supplying the Durban Heights Water Treatment Works.

This led to a daily deficit of approximately 150 megalitres, which caused several reservoirs across the system to run extremely low. In a joint statement, the City and uMngeni-uThukela Water said the problem with the valve has now been fixed, enabling the Durban Heights Waterworks to begin receiving a full supply of raw water from Nagle Dam for treatment. “This will allow the plant to process the maximum volume of water and begin replenishing the broader distribution network. However, full recovery of the reticulation system will thereafter commence for a period of two weeks.” In order to restore stability to the network while minimising widespread outages the City anduMngeni-uThukela Water announced the following steps: