eThekwini implements water rationing schedule to meet demand

Residents in Durban’s south and inner west areas will face additional water restrictions as demand continues to exceed available levels in municipal reservoirs.

High water demand saw provincial bulk water authority uMngeni-uThukela Water (UUW) pumping an unauthorised 1,406 megalitres a day instead of the authorised 1,287 megalitres, an oversupply stopped by the department of water and sanitation in October 2024.

Since then, UUW has had to curtail its supply to the municipality by 8.4%, which will last until September.

The city announced water rationing measures on Friday in Durban’s southern and central areas.

“In keeping with curtailment measures and to manage high demand, the city confirms it has implemented further water rationing in areas supplied from reservoir 2 at Durban heights treatment works. This is due to the storage capacity of reservoir 2 not keeping up to the minimum level. The areas are in the south and central parts of the city,” said municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana.

“Rationing is done to build storage. Water is reopened when there are sufficient levels. Rationing also ensures equitable water supply as it is done rotationally.”

Thes restrictions will be carried out during off-peak hours from 10am to 3pm and 8pm to 4am in the south and south-west regions. Some parts of Westville in the inner west will have an outage from 8pm to 5am.

Sisilana reiterated the city’s call against the installation of static water tanks to its reticulation network, saying too many tanks contributed to reservoirs being depleted quickly. This results in the available supply not being shared equally among residents since water fills static tanks first.

She said the municipality was applying different intervention methods to find solutions and encourage residents and businesses to contribute by conserving water.

“Other interventions being implemented by the city include the installation of restrictors to enforce responsible water usage, identifying and repairing leaks, and checking all control valves and repairing and replacing them where needed,” she said.

“Until water augmentation projects are complete, eThekwini is not able to receive additional water supply from uMngeni-uThukela Water. Immediate improvements in the reliability of supply and availability can be achieved through relatively small acts of saving water.

“Residents are encouraged to practise rainwater harvesting for additional storage.”

The rationing comes amid protests and concern raised by several labour, civic and residential organisations over water outages across the metro.

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