Reservoir levels across the Nelson Mandela Metro are low due to ongoing repairs of the Sundays River canal, which kicked off on Monday, the 29th July 2024.
Affected areas with no water, are those supplied by reservoirs in Motherwell, Chelsea Zone, Kariega, KwaNobuhle and Greenbushes.The Metro said repairs on the canal continued into the night, despite power outages at the Skoenmakerskop pump station and Emerald Hill.
The recovery of the system is expected in the next 5 days.
Prior to the repairs, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) said the work on the canal is a result of a May 2017 incident, where a section of the canal embarkment slipped, about 4.4km south of Enon. The department then constructed a temporary embarkment using a plastic membrane, but now, a secondary embankment failure has occurred.
Engineers have had to demolish the canal upstream and tie-in sections, downstream.
The Metro remains dependent on supply of water from the Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dam, which can only supply 70 Mililiters of water per day.
The DWS has allowed the Municipality to use more water from the Kouga, Loerie, Church and Impofu schemes, during the repairs.
Picture: Supplied