While upgrades to the Standford Road Booster Pump-station is underway, this facility will produce 20Ml less per day, requiring an urgent drop in consumption to avoid water disruptions to the western, central and southwestern parts of Gqeberha.

Barry Martin, Senior Director of Water and Sanitation, said that the municipality will try to manage with the water it has in storage, but over-abstraction can result in shortages.

The upgrades, that will continue until the end of November, are necessary to enable the municipality to increase the daily supply from the Nooitgedacht Water Treatment Works from 100Ml to 135Ml daily.

Executive Mayor Gary van Niekerk said: "We are making this announcement with great trepidation as it concerns a valuable resource, water, and the comfort of our consumers.

"If we do not reduce the water demand to below 180Ml, the daily routines of our residents and local businesses, especially those residing in the western, central and southwestern parts of Gqeberha, will be adversely affected.

"Unfortunately, we are likely to experience a period of uncertainty while work will be carried out to improve our water distribution network by improving the capacity of the Motherwell and the Standford Booster Pump-stations.

"I therefore would like to call on our residents to partner with us as disruptions to water supply may occur over the next four months.

"We therefore need to request once again, that you use water sparingly as production at the Standford Road Booster Station will decline, while the upgrading of the pump station is underway.

"This is necessary to ensure that we improve our ability to pump more water from the Nooitgedacht Water Treatment Works to our residents. We are currently abstracting 70% of our daily water supply from this facility.

"When work is completed by November, we will not just be able to pump more water from Nooitgedagt, we will also supply areas from this reticulation system, that currently receive water from our western dams.

"Water is a finite resource, entirely dependent on regular rainfall and the ability of the Department of Water Affairs and our municipality to management our resources efficiently.

"The augmentation of water supply is a crucial part of this responsibility, as we live in a water scarce region.

"Despite the prevailing drought and the low dam levels, we were able to cushion our residents against the impact of the water shortage, with our successful water augmentation efforts, sporadically coming online towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

"Our efforts to address water leaks proficiently is improving rapidly thanks to the hard work of our Water Distribution team. We managed to radically reduce the historic water leaks backlog and fix up to 1 200 leaks weekly.

"Work is underway to address critical vacancies in this crucial department to further improve our efficiency.

"I would like to appeal to our residents to keep on working with us in order for the municipality to continue providing drinkable water of a high standard, despite trying circumstances,” Mayor Van Niekerk said.

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