Gauteng water consumers urged to ease usage to avert pressure on IVRS
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in Gauteng has urged water consumers to be cautious in their water usage in order to prevent putting pressure on the integrated Vaal Rivers System (IVRS), which is continuing to deplete week-on-week.
The IVRS has been on the decline for weeks as the major dams that form part of the system are falling, sparking concerns that municipalities might have to put in place measures for consumers to cut back on their water usage.
Presently, the IVRS remains unchanged from last week’s 76.3% but is down from the 89.0% it recorded last year during the same period. Based on the current levels of the IVRS, it shows that the system has been consistently on the decline.
The Sterkfontein Dam is also unaffected this week as it remains at last week’s levels of 93.6%. Last year at the same week the dam’s levels were slightly higher at 95.4%, making it resilient up until now.
Contributing towards the falling levels of the IVRS, the major dams in the system including the critical Vaal Dam have been decreasing.
In this regard, the Vaal Dam has fallen this week, moving from 69.0% last week to 68.7% this week. During the same period in the corresponding year, the dam was hovering at a remarkable 105.9%.
Similarly declining, the Grootdraai Dam this week recorded 81.7%, falling from 82.5% last week. Like the Vaal Dam which went over the 100% mark last year at the same time, the Grootdraai similarly floated at significantly high levels at 102.8% last year.
The Mohale and Katse Dam are still in a depressed state despite their recording minor increases this week.
The Katse Dam increased its levels from 34.3% to 33.5% this week while last year at the same week it stood at a decent 66.7%. Currently, the Mohale Dam is at 22.2%, having been at 22.1% last week. The present levels of the dam indicate that it has gone further down from its last year’s levels when it was at 36.0%
As the country is earnestly moving towards the winter season, DWS in Gauteng is calling on water users to be prudent when using water since Gauteng is a summer rainfall area and may have to contend with depleting water levels in the coming months.
Enquiries:
Sputnik Ratau
Cell: 082 874 2942
Hosia Sithole
Cell: 082 723 2442
