The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s Adopt-a-School initiative is making inroads in supporting the most serious water crisis to face the Metro in its recent history, with 31 schools having been adopted thus far by nine member companies. The objective of this project is to limit the amount of water lost to leaks, targeting schools as they account for 10% of the total water lost in the city due to leaks.
As part of the Business Chamber’s water-saving intervention strategy, the launch of its Adopt-a-School initiative last year has received excellent support from the private sector which has provided much-needed assistance to the identified schools with borehole drilling, fixing faulty or damaged plumbing systems, installing water tanks, refurbishing of a local clinic, including the provision of educational material and sanitisers to save water, said Denise Van Huyssteen, the Business Chamber CEO.
To date, 85 schools have benefitted from a water education programme offered by one of the member companies, while another company has donated eight water tanks for usage within the KwaNobuhle area.
The city’s combined dam levels are currently sitting at 12,2% with a weekly average daily consumption of 291,43 Megalitres against the target of 210 ML. The Metro’s consumption trend remains far too high with levels far exceeding targeted requirements. This is an unsustainable situation especially with the delays being experienced with the completion of Phase 3 of the Nooitgedacht scheme, which was initially projected for completion by the end of September this year.
“This essentially means, that if we all don’t start immediately reducing our water consumption levels, by December around half of the city will have no water supply,” emphasises van Huyssteen. “Among some of the initial areas at high risk of running out of water include Newton Park, Neave Industrial Area, New Brighton, KwaZakhele, Korsten, North End, Walmer, Collen Glen, Wedgewood, Summerstrand, Humewood and parts of KwaNobuhle.”
The Business Chamber appeals to residents and businesses to reduce their water consumption levels significantly in order to keep water in the dams until the end of April and such time as other mitigation initiatives can be implemented. “We know that there is a lot of fatigue around the water, electricity and covid issues affecting us but we do need to take action now to save our most precious resource. As such we urge shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and all businesses operating in the Metro, to drive water reduction campaigns within their own operations. It needs to be clear to all residents and visitors to our city that we are operating within a water crisis and need to radically reduce our water consumption levels.”
“To this end, we call upon residents and businesses to take the water crisis seriously by adopting the necessary behavioural changes. If restrictions are not adhered to and water consumption is not reduced immediately, collecting water from water tankers will be the norm, for a number of months,” Van Huyssteen said.