Durban – eThekwini Municipality pulled a surprise on residents on Friday night by reducing the supply of water to households between 9pm and 4am.

Little notice was given of the new water-saving measures.

Some councillors were upset at not having been informed ahead of time, so that they could inform city residents of the move. They said they had only heard from media queries and social media posts about the impending water reductions.

The municipality said yesterday afternoon that water supply would be limited at night to allow reservoirs to fill up for the next day.

The deputy head of water operations, Richard Mngoma, said with little rain predicted and with residents not saving water immediately, supplies could be depleted in the next few months.

He added that the mandatory 15 percent reduction of water consumption by residents required by the national Department of Water and Sanitation had not borne fruit.

“It was therefore necessary to implement restrictions in heavily affected areas,” he said.

The idea was mooted a week ago, but no date was set for when the water supply would be limited.

Areas that are supplied from the Midmar and Albert Falls dam systems are affected at present, but municipal spokesman Thulani Mbatha said other areas not listed should not be “carefree about the drought and water supply”.

Midmar Dam supplies water to areas such as Pinetown, Cato Ridge, KwaXimba, Umbumbulu, Georgedale, Hammarsdale, Shongweni, Salem, uMlazi and parts of Folweni.

Albert Falls Dam supplies areas such as Durban North, uMhlanga, Verulam, KwaMashu, Ntuzuma, Newlands, Westville, Reservoir Hills, KwaDabeka, Clermont, Pinetown, Queensburgh, Chatsworth, uMlazi and parts of Folweni.

The water level at Midmar Dam has dropped to 46 percent, while Albert Falls Dam has reached a low of 34 percent.

“We are confident that this intervention will achieve the required water saving. However, if we are not able to achieve this, an option of limiting water supply during the day will be considered,” said Mbatha.

He explained that residents in some high-lying areas might not immediately be able to access water when they opened their taps, owing to water pressure, but said this was not a total water supply shutdown.

“Other initiatives by the municipality to achieve the saving of water include pressure reduction, installation of water-meter restrictors, fines and penalties for those with high water usage,” he said.

But local councillors were not impressed with the city’s last-minute announcement, which left them with little time to inform the residents in their wards.

Shaun Ryley, ward councillor for Durban North, said: “We understand that we are in a crisis and substantive measures need to be taken to conserve water, but this was handled very poorly by the city. There was no consultation. I only found out about it when I received a query from the media. They haven’t left us any time to alert the public.”

Ward councillor for the Pinetown and Westville areas Bruce Sutcliffe said he found it “totally unacceptable” that councillors had not been informed of the plans.

Communication

“There has been very little communication. I only heard about it from my daughter, who had been on the internet and read about it.

“It is unacceptable for the city’s communications unit to not inform us. We will look like idiots, because our residents expect us to know these things. No doubt, I will be getting calls around midnight from people who find little or no water in their taps.”

Councillors from the Verulam, Newlands, KwaMashu and uMlazi areas did not answer their phones when contacted by The Independent on Saturday.

The Federated Hospitality Association of SA’s operations director, Charles Preece, said on Friday night that the industry was aware that severe restrictions might be imposed and had made plans accordingly.

“Most of the larger hotels have large storage capacity. They will toe the line and not encourage over-consumption.

“The B&Bs and smaller accommodation (providers) will be affected, but we have seen this coming, and some will have put in storage tanks.

“South African guests fully understand the situation, and owners and managers need to manage the situation properly and keep their guests informed,” said Preece, adding that the next rains were only expected in October, when the catchment areas would fill up again.

Independent on Saturday