Water conservation and demand management drive
The Department of Water Affairs (DWA) North West started the Water Conservation
(WC) and Water Demand Management (WDM) programme in 2008 after the then
Minister, Lindiwe Hendricks, declared water saving a national priority. In 2010, President
Jacob Zuma raised the profile of water conservation by stating that ‘South Africa is not a
water-rich country’ and that all people living in the country must take up the challenge of
finding ways to use water wisely.
In the 2006, this project had already been piloted through a WC/WDM assessment and
development of the business plan for the Dinokana village in Ramotshere Moiloa Local
Municipality. This initiative was prompted by high water demand and water shortages in most of the rural areas of Dinokana and Lehurutshe.
During the study, it was established that the main contributing factors for water loss/wastage in that area was excessive irrigation of lawns and gardens and also unauthorised connections.
Municipal programmes and water-saving initiatives
Municipalities like Rustenburg Local Municipality have been implementing their water-demand management strategy since 2005. According to Rustenburg Local Municipality’s Water Loss Control Report, the methods used to detect water losses in the system were dividing areas into small manageable zones, pressure management, leak detection and repairing. These measures have been implemented in Lethabong (Rustenburg area) and have resulted in water saving of approximately 201 480 cubic metres per year when
calculated at a tariff of R3.15 per kilolitre of water, it amounts to a saving R634 662! The
refurbishment and recommissioning of pressure management in Boitekong (Rustenburg
area) resulted in a saving of approximately 151 548 cubic metres per year, which amounts to a saving of R477 376. The
municipality also upgraded the water metering infrastructure for non-domestic consumers which will result in improved metering management and a reduction in the volume of non-revenue water.
The department has continued its support towards municipalities that are already in deficit and currently facing water shortages. The amount of R3.1-million has already been made available in the last financial year to beneficiary municipalities such as Moretele Local Municipality, Moses Kotane Local Municipality and Maquassi Hills Local Municipality. According to Moretele Local Municipality’s reports, high loss of revenue was one of the challenges faced by the municipality through water-pipe leakages, including poor workmanship leading to water loss. Faulty consumer meters read incorrect hydrograph (a graph of the water level), which cost the municipality a substantial amount of money. Since the project’s inception, water leakages have been reduced and consumers have been educated about the importance of saving water resulting in the municipality saving R1 057 651.
Departmental assessment studies on water conservation and water demand management
The Department has commissioned several studies aimed at assessing the availability
of water resources and deriving strategies that could be employed to deal with the current water shortages in the province.
The commissioning of the Crocodile West Marico Water Management Area (WMA)
(comprising Mafikeng and Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipalities and Bojanala
District Municipality) WC/ WDM assessment study came as a result of the Department
identifying an urgent need to investigate whether there is scope for implementing
WC/WDM options in each of the water-user sectors in the WMA. The Crocodile West
Marico WMA Study has recently been finalised by the Department. Other studies are the
Middle Vaal WMA (comprising Maquassi Hills, City of
Matlosana, Tlokwe and Ventersdorp Local Municipalities) WC/WDM assessment study, provincial water availability study and the all-town study. The reports on these studies are available on our website www.dwa.gov.za.
Communities’ role in conserving water
The responsibility of being water wise does not only lie with water institutions; it is the
responsibility of all people in South Africa. Along with the municipal drive, communities,
schools and agricultural forums have been mobilised to educate all people on how they
can save water. The following tips can be used by people to assist government’s water-conservation drive:
- Shower – don’t bath; a bath uses an average of 160 litres, while a five-minute shower uses only 60 litres of water.
- Don’t keep the tap running while you are brushing your teeth or shaving; this can save
up to 20 litres of water a month. - Cut down the amount of water flushed down the toilet pan. Toilets use about 30% of the total water used in a household.
- Don’t wash and rinse your dishes under running water; rather fill a sink with soapy water, wash them, and then rinse them in a sink of fresh water.
- To avoid wasting water via evaporation, be sure to only water your garden before
10am in the morning, or after 4pm in the afternoon. - Try to schedule your garden irrigation by watering less frequently, but for longer
periods of time. This way, the water will sink deeper into the ground, encouraging a deeper root system and stronger plants. - Plant indigenous and water-wise plants in your garden.
- Make sure your irrigation system does not leak and that the sprinklers are directed to where the water is most needed and are not spraying on the road or pathways in your garden.
While it is expected that water consumption will
increase as the population and the
economy grows, the rate at which water use is increasing now by far exceeds expectations. In order to overcome this challenge, we need to work together to save more water.
For more information contact:
Pako Mokati, Project Manager WC/WDM
Email: mokatip@dwa.gov.za
Website: www.dwa.gov.za
