Increased efforts to conquer water crisis

In mid-April, combined dam levels in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) were at 13.73% – placing huge pressure on the region’s water security. Added to this, NMBM is restricted by the Department of Water and Sanitation to extract 268 Mℓ/day; presently, the city is using approximately 300 Mℓ/day.

Lyle Francis, acting deputy director: Water Demand Management, NMBM L yle Francis, acting deputy director: Water Demand Management, NMBM, discusses the municipality’s interventions to reduce water wastage. “Last year, during hard lockdown, additional maintenance contractors were appointed to repair water leaks and rehabilitate water pipelines. This was done in line with the Municipal Finance Management Act (No. 56 of 2003) and NMBM’s Supply Chain Management Policy. There are 60 wards within the municipal boundary, which are grouped into six clusters. Two contractors work per cluster. At the commencement of the contract, a backlog of 16 665 leaks was identified, which has now been resolved; however, it must be noted that new leaks and complaints are added every day – it will never reach zero.”

Information management system

NMBM’s call centre receives an average of 2 000 calls a day. Using a specialised software package called EDAMS, complaints and queries are logged about public health, electricity and water, and are sent to relevant departments. On the water side, complaints are subdivided into categories such as burst pipes, leaking service pipes, leaking valves, leaking fire hydrants, leaking meters and leaking stop cocks. These complaints are then packaged and issued to the relevant contractors, depending on ward and cluster, via an Excel spreadsheet that has complaint details, street addresses and unique reference numbers. The contractors then email that list back to the EDAMS system, where the complaints are closed. Every week, an automated report is generated that displays the number of water complaints received, resolved and outstanding per cluster.

“This automated report is a powerful tool used to flag problem areas. The performance of the contractors is tightly managed. They cannot claim that a leak is repaired when it is not or create duplicate claims for the same leak. The system will automatically recognise this and flag an error. Random daily spot checks are done by NMBM staff and call centre agents follow up

with consumers every day to ensure that the complaints have been resolved,” adds Francis.

The EDAMS software package has numerous impressive features and is tied in to the NMBM’s asset register. It also alerts NMBM (via loggers and telemetry) if distribution reservoirs are either too low or overflowing.

Metering is a vital tool to reduce nonrevenue water (NRW). “Without accurate metering, one would not have a true reflection of NRW. The system input volume and billing have to be known and understood. The city is currently replacing domestic and industrial meters that are older than eight years and have become inaccurate, ultimately reaching the end of their useful life cycle. It is also embarking on a project to ensure that all zones, called greater metered areas (GMAs) and district metered area (DMAs), have functional meters to give an accurate reflection of water usage. Unfortunately, at the 151 GMAs and DMAs, only 50% of these meters are currently in operation due to vandalism and/or theft. The readings from GMAs and DMAs need to add up to a specific total; if there is a significant discrepancy, then there may be a possible leak or unmetered connections within that specific zone.

The city has also reduced leaks by installing pressure management valves in areas that exhibit frequent pipe bursts and high night flows. There are currently 73 pressure-managed areas within NMBM and potential new sites are continuously investigated and identified.

Francis adds that NMBM is only responsible for repairs up to and including the meter – residents are responsible for any leak on their property after the meter itself. “There have been cases where residents are only aware of a leak on their property once they have received a high water bill. In some circumstances, residents can apply for a rebate. NMBM does, however, provide assistance to the poor, whereby qualifying, low-income earners can request for NMBM to fix water leaks on their property. This is in the best interest of NMBM in the fight to save water and reduce consumption.”

Other projects

In addition to water leaks, NMBM has also paid considerable attention to its pipelines. The city has approximately 4 900 km of underground water pipes. “We have prioritised the rehabilitation of major pipelines that are old and in need of maintenance, as they can cause massive leaks and prolonged water disruptions to large suburbs. R90 million has been received this financial year for the rehabilitation of pipelines. This comes from a loan that NMBM has taken based on a 10-year NRW business plan to reduce NRW,” adds Francis.

Another positive development is the construction of the new Coegakop Water Treatment Works (WTW). Supply is sourced from an artesian aquifer over which the Coegakop groundwater wellfield was established, within which the WTW will be constructed. Once commissioned, the treatment works will be able to produce up to 20 Mℓ/day.

Further aquifer and potential drilling target areas have been identified within an economically acceptable distance of NMBM’s existing water supply infrastructure in the St George’s, Moregrove, Churchill and Bush Park wellfield areas. These sites have been earmarked for construction and will further augment water supply by approximately 20 Mℓ/day.

According to Francis, NMBM has also identified critical areas within the metro that may suffer from a lack of water should its water security situation turn critical. One such area is Kwanobuhle, with a population of approximately 250 000 people, which already experiences intermittent water supply from Kouga Dam (which is critically low) through the Loerie supply system.

Recent projections have revealed that Kouga Dam will likely reach dead storage at a capacity of 3.1% in the next few months. “We are planning to construct a new pump station and bulk water pipeline to transfer water sourced from the Gariep Dam (Nooitgedagt), in order to mitigate this once the Kouga Dam reaches dead storage.”

Monthly household audits are conducted to find further leaks and possible illegal connections. “If there is a holiday home in NMBM that has been vacant for months but has an active water bill, then we can notify the owners about a possible leak. If there are households with very low readings, then we will investigate further; if there is an illegal connection, we will issue a fine, fix the meter and may even involve the police,” states Francis.

In the long term, there are plans for two desalination plants. The Coega Development Corporation has applied and received funding from National Treasury for a 15 Mℓ/day desalination plant. The city also has plans to construct its own desalination plant on the western side of NMBM at Skoenmakerskop, which on completion will produce 30 Mℓ/day into the system.

Water consumption

While fixing leaks and using alternative water sources (like boreholes and desalination plants) to augment NMBM’s existing supply will contribute towards improving its water security, reducing water consumption is key. “We are faced with a complexity of reducing water consumption in a city with a growing population; however, our calculations show that reducing consumption from 300 Mℓ/day to 250 Mℓ/day would alleviate significant pressure on our water supply,” says Francis.