1 a) Severe load shedding affects the ability of Water Boards and Water Service Authorities (WSAs) to pump water into their reservoirs. This resulted in the water levels in the reservoirs being too low to gravity-feed water to high-lying areas. As a result, several high-lying areas have been without water for prolonged periods.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has not quantified the amount of production downtime across the country. However, most WSAs have a contingency plan to ensure continuity of water supply. Water Boards and WSAs experienced several electrical and mechanical failures, which also contributed to the difficulty in filling the reservoirs. Some of these failures may have been a result of damage to equipment caused by the frequent load shedding.
Using the Eskom schedule of loading shedding, Treatment Plants can be closed in phases to prevent sudden shutdown of processes at the start of loadshedding that damage infrastructure. It is also possible to store additional treated water in preparation to cater for downtime at the plant. The operating philosophy is to maintain the reservoir levels between 60-80%. This targeted range will enable the system to be resilient and respond to any challenges.
1 b) All treatment plants, rely on electricity in one way or another, and where affordable, WSAs are encouraged to ensure continuous water provision through additional storage such as reservoirs and static tanks or alternative energy supply to cater for loadshedding.
2 The Water Boards, as water service providers to various WSAs, have taken different approaches to manage the impact of ESKOM’s loadshedding on their ability to provide reliable bulk water supply services to users, including:
Some municipalities have been able to exempt some of their water and sanitation facilities from load shedding, but this is often not possible because it would require exempting whole areas from load shedding, which in turn would result in Eskom’s load shedding requirements not being met.
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