Day Zero comes for Nelson Mandela Bay when two sources of its drinking water – Impofu Dam and Churchill Dam runs empty.
News24 reports that Impofu Dam was decommissioned last week after its water levels dropped too low for water extraction. The drought-stricken Nelson Mandela Bay metro will again lose another water source as water levels at Churchill Dam are close to eight percent.
According to Mail & Guardian, when these dams run dry, it will affect more than 100 suburbs and towns in the western half of the metro.
Metro’s spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki says that water will not stop instantaneously for everyone. Instead, “some of the areas will start being affected first, others in about ten days, others in 15 days, and so on.” (Bega, 2022).
Solutions to water scarcity
The city has been using a barge system to extract water from a different location of the Impofu Dam to supply residents’ water, but this is only a temporary solution.
In contrast, water is still available, the article says. But to stretch water supplies, the metro is urging residents to conserve water, stick to 50 liters as a maximum consumption, and plan to drill more boreholes to augment water supplies.
Although there has been a drop in water consumption from 270 million liters to 262 million liters a day, the article notes that more needs to be done to meet the municipal target of 230 million liters daily.
Climate change and water management crisis
Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu announced that his department is taking over to resolve the crisis through water legislation. Mchunu says that the emptiness of the dam and overall water scarcity “is not a thing of a horror,” adding that the region’s 7-year drought is a clear manifestation of climate change (Bega, 2022).
However, Denise van Huysteen, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, attributes the water shortage to a water management crisis and not to drought.
“While we acknowledge that the lack of rain and resultant low dam levels have been one of the factors contributing to the water crisis, there are several other issues that have further exacerbated the situation, such as the lack of accountability and urgency from municipal leadership in dealing with water issues, budget and procurement bottlenecks, lack of investment and maintenance of infrastructure and qualified engineers no longer being employed by the municipality,” van Huysteen says (Bega, 2022).
Leaks and water losses
Huysteen said that the municipality should also address non-revenue water losses accounting for 40% of the total water supply, of which 20% is from leaks and 11% from commercial losses, to save the metro from running out of water.
Washington Post reports that water shortages are a way of life for many South Africans. The recurring droughts, which experts thought were worsened by climate change, combined with failing infrastructure and poor maintenance, led to water scarcity in Nelson Mandela Bay, where Gqberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, and other cities are located.
Having been under severe drought since 2015, Gqberha also loses a third of its water supplies from leaks. Luvuyo Bangazi, the municipality’s joint operations crisis committee spokesperson, says it has a backlog of about 3,000 unfixed leaks.
Aside from failure in management at the municipality level, the city is beset with “irregular expenditures” amounting to $1 billion, with several city officials implicated in high-profile graft cases in recent years. Bangazi says that political challenges and instability can have a knock-on effect on decision-making related to water.
Alternative water supply – water recycling and desalination
Van Huyssteen said the 150 million liters of wastewater a day could be recycled and augment water supplies. Metro spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki offers desalination as a probable medium to the long-term solution, in addition to water recycling (Bega, 2022).
While the historic droughts contributed to the Nelson Mandela Bay water crisis, other problems like leakages stemming from inadequate investment and infrastructure maintenance where corruption may play a role are serious issues that the metropolis needs to address.
Regarding alternative water sources for the area, should the recurring drought-threatening water supplies have prompted the city to put in plans and prepare early on to avert day zero?
Twenty-four hours to day zero, IOL reports that Nelson Mandela Bay Metro’s communities stockpiled water as much as possible. Others rushed to temporary water tanks set up to distribute water. Regarding the areas expected to be hit hard, provisions for water from boreholes have been made.
Charity foundations such as the Gift of the Givers Foundation helped by setting boreholes and water tanks in strategic locations close to critical service providers like schools, clinics, and homes for the elderly.
A few days before day zero, News24 reports that Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu connected the metro to the Kwanobuhle pump station for a temporary water supply. The pump station gets its water from the Gariep Dam, which is located on the borders of the Free state and is not affected by the drought affecting Gqeberha and surrounding towns. Diverting the water source from the Kwanobuhle pump station is only a short-term solution as the pump station itself has limited capacity. Other dams that supply the western areas of the metro have critically low water levels.
Recent rains replenished the dams and allowed the metro to buy a little time. In the meantime, the 109 suburbs will get water from the Kwanobuhle pump station.
Dries Van Der Westhuizen, a metro councilor and committee member of infrastructure and engineering, emphasized that water should be distributed equitably and fairly among all residents regardless of socio-economic status.
As this is only a temporary solution for residents, the metro is expediting the implementation of water restrictor devices on households that use too much water to conserve water supplies.
Bega, S. (2022, June 10). Thirsty days ahead: Day Zero imminent for Nelson Mandela Bay. Mail & Guardian. Retrieved from https://mg.co.za/environment/2022-06-10-thirsty-days-ahead-day-zero-imminent-for-nelson-mandela-bay/
Dayimani, M. (2022, June 20). Nelson Mandela Bay Day Zero: Another dam set to run dry as levels sit at 8%. News24. Retrieved from https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/nelson-mandela-bay-day-zero-another-dam-set-to-run-dry-on-as-levels-sit-at-8-20220620-2
Brown, R. (2022 June 19). ‘Day Zero’ water crisis looms on South Africa’s eastern cape. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/19/south-africa-water-day-zero/
Mavuso, S. (2022, July 8). LOOK: A day before Nelson Mandela Bay’s day zero comes, efforts are made to get water. IOL. Retrieved from https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/eastern-cape/look-a-day-before-nelson-mandela-bays-day-zero-comes-efforts-are-made-to-get-water-33b8d9d9-d04f-41c0-aef9-da06839e9bc5
Datyimani, M. (2022, July 6). Day Zero: Govt diverts water from Gariep Dam to ‘red zone’ regions of Nelson Mandela Bay. News24. Retrieved from https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/day-zero-govt-diverts-water-from-gariep-dam-to-red-zone-regions-of-nelson-mandela-bay-20220706