Durban - Several areas across the City will be without water from today (Monday) as repairs get underway at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant, which is operated and managed by Umgeni Water.
According to eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela, water rationing has become necessary due to reduced water supply from the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant. This shortfall has been caused, and will remain for the next 10-12 months, by Umgeni Water being unable to receive adequate raw water from Nagle Dam because of extensive damage to two raw water pipelines in the April 2022 heavy rainfall.
In a media briefing on Friday, Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said this is necessary due to reduced water supply from the plant to Nagel Dam. This is set to remain for the next 10 - 12 months.
He said repairs to damaged pipes are expected to be completed by June 2023.
"To effectively manage the shortfall so affected areas have access to water, eThekwini has introduced a system of rotational supply so that distribution is balanced. This will remain in place until pipeline repairs are completed," Kaunda said.
The KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court, Pietermaritzburg, has accepted a consent order initiated by Umgeni Water that now opens the way for repair work on Reservoir 3 at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant to be undertaken. If all goes according to schedule, the work on Reservoir 3 will be completed by November 2022, after which 340 million litres of storage space will become available.
Kaunda said the contractor appointed to conduct repair work on the two damaged pipelines that convey raw water from Nagle Dam to the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant has submitted a draft work programme to Umgeni Water.
“Work is due to begin next week. The draft work schedule outlines how the project will be implemented in order to bring the two raw water pipelines back to functionality. Both pipelines require extensive work to restore functionality. Sections of the pipelines, some hundreds of metres in length, will have to be redesigned and new sections connected. This illustrates, in stark reality, the severity of the damage and explains why full restoration is expected to be 10-12 months,” he said.
IOL