By BAKANG MOKOTO
21 November 2024- Magalies Water said it advises bulk customers within its area of operation of envisaged water demand management as a result as below average rainfall, over some parts of the interior and central regions of the country including the North West province, which forms the core of Magalies Water’s operations (Section 29 & Section 30).
The water utility said further to the above, the persisting climatic conditions have worsened the deterioration of raw water quality in the various supply schemes, which are compounded by incidents of pollution.
The Magalies Water spokesperson, David Magae said these have a direct impact in Magalies Water’s ability to produce requisite water volumes for potable use. Magae said South African Weather Services (SAWS) predicted that temperatures would be mostly above-normal across the country as a result of the El Nino effect.
“In our context, that may translate into a higher-than-normal water consumption pattern resulting in increased water demand and a lower supply capacity due to the aforementioned climatic conditions resulting in limited raw water availability for abstraction, treatment and distribution to bulk customers.
“In particular, the flow into the water treatment plants has been reduced to cater for the treatability index and plant performance matrix as guided by SANS 241:2015. This has adversely compromised the efficacy of the systems with reference to the design specifications and their capabilities,” he said.
Magae further said the systems are strained and are struggling to cope with the alarming loads of contaminants that are entering the systems due to upstream catchment activities (pollution) and climatic factors. He added that this has resulted in the water treatment plants producing reduced quantities of drinking water due to reduction in the abstracted volumes.
“This is done by and large, to ensure that the integrity of Magalies Water with respect to the provisions of SANS 241:2015 specifications is not compromised and is consistently compliant.
“As a countermeasure, the highly competent team of scientists and process engineers are working towards optimization of the systems and developing the most pragmatic approaches to circumvent the incoming loads of pollution while producing bulk water supply quotas that conform to the design capacities,” said Magae.
He said they urge customers to use the water sparingly during this period, and further apologizes for the inconvenience that this development has caused.
The Guardian 