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Marinus de Wilde
This means that if consumers and municipalities
fail to adhere to government’s directive to cut water
use by 15%, the dam’s level could drop to 25% by
14 November, according to projections by the
Department of Water and Sanitation. The Vaal Dam
system is fed water from 14 dams and supplies water
to some 13 million Gauteng residents as well as parts
of the North West Province and the Free State.
A prolonged drought — which has seen rainfall
in 2015 at its lowest level since recordkeeping
began in 1904 — has been the cause of far less
water filling up rivers and dams across the
country, prompting government to introduce water
restrictions in various provinces. In the case of the
The Vaal Dam’s level could drop to 25% in November, according
to projections by the Department of Water and Sanitation.
22
Water Sewage & Effluent November/December 2016
Vaal Dam, the danger of the declining water levels
has seen the Department of Water and Sanitation
gazette a 15% restriction on water usage. But this
has seen limited success, with consumers failing to
adhere to restrictions.
Water supplies cut
In light of this, Rand Water and the Department
of Water and Sanitation have adopted an even
stricter stance: water supplies to all municipalities
across the province were recently cut by 15%. Rand
Water is responsible for the distribution of water
in Gauteng and draws its purification water mainly
from the Vaal Dam. Mokonyane warned that if water