Water, Sewage & Effluent November-December 2016 | Page 24

Flickr 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