Bloemfontein has been plagued with water woes for a couple of years . The drought has only exacerbated the existing challenges related to ageing infrastructure , water quality , and supply constraints . By Nicola Theunissen
aggravated by the drought ,” said Minister of Water and Sanitation Nomvula Mokonyane during her budget vote in 2016 .
The city ’ s important economic role in the province makes the need for short- and long-term interventions and infrastructure roll-out to address the water crisis all the more serious . If the population grows by only 1.2 % per year , the water demand will increase with approximately 30 % over the next 20 years .
Realising the urgency , the municipality has been seeking solutions to relieve water pressure in a bid to address the inevitable : demand exceeding supply .
Addressing continuous challenges
Ageing infrastructure places severe strain on the municipality ’ s water system . Apart from water outages , water quality becomes compromised by deteriorating treatment works .
The Department of Water and Sanitation ( DWS ), Bloemwater , and the MMM released a combined statement late last year , denying allegations and claims that drinking water contains traces of E . coli .
After conducting specialised testing , the authorities announced that the results confirmed that the water supplied to residents met the standards set by South African National Standards ( SANS ) 241:2015 .
Quality is only one aspect of the problem — water supply seems to be the red flag .
Since 1973 when the Welbedacht Dam was completed , it has lost more than 90 % of its storage capacity because networking contributor tech news industry environment infrastructure municipalities
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