MMC reiterates plea to use water responsibly

27 November 2015

 

As recent rains seem not to have had an effect on the drought gripping the country, Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services Councillor Matshidiso Mfikoe has reiterated her call to residents to use water responsibly and sparingly.

 

Speaking on Thursday November 26 at the City’s last council meeting of 2015, MMC Mfikoe urged residents to refrain from watering their gardens between 6am and 6pm, washing their cars using hosepipes and filling their swimming pools.

She asked residents to fix or replace leaking taps and report leaking or burst pipes to Johannesburg Water.

The MMC also appealed to the mining and agricultural sectors to use water efficiently. She said Gauteng residents should appreciate the fact that they had not experienced the same levels of drought that had gripped provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and North West. She called on residents to be agents of water preservation so the City would not have to implement drastic action.

“I would like to appeal to Gauteng and Johannesburg communities to use water sparingly and preserve it as much as possible. They should refrain from watering their gardens unnecessarily and washing their cars using hosepipes,” she pleaded.

MMC Mfikoe said water levels in the Vaal Dam had dropped to 59% in October, from 67% in August. Water levels in the Vaal Dam have been dropping by one percentage point a week since the drought began.

MMC Mfikoe said Rand Water, from which Johannesburg Water receives its bulk water supply, had warned residents of serious consequences if they did not preserve water, with the situation likely to get worse by March 2016.

Since April 2015, sea surface temperatures have been rising on the Pacific Region, which might have an effect on normal rainfall patterns globally, with flooding taking place in some parts. Earlier, during the council meeting, Speaker Councillor Connie Bapela congratulated the City for having embraced the 16 days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign, which began on November 25 and will until December 10.