Joburg Water has warned that if residents don’t get serious about saving water, the consequences will be dire.

Earlier this week, the city introduced watershedding in the Roodepoort area, which it soon implemented in other areas.

Currently, the Vaal Dam, which supplies Gauteng, is only 28.2% full, way below the required 50% for normal operation.

“All municipalities and residents must act now or face severe water shortages,” Joburg Water said.

“The total storage capacity of all the dams in the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) is 11.26 km³. The current total demand in the VRS is 3.07 km³ per annum. If the drought persists resulting in no rain for the next two years, IVRS dams will be completely empty by July 2018,” it added.

Residents have been told to strictly adhere to Level 2 Water Restrictions, which have been slightly escalated to prohibit the filling of swimming pools at any time.

Swimming pools take up to 56 000 litres of water, which is equal to three months of water supply for basic needs like drinking, bathing, cooking and flushing toilets.

Warning for wasteful businesses

Joburg Water also warned against businesses who waste water during their operations.

“Businesses that continue to use sprinklers during the day and all night long should understand when one day they wake up with no water,” the entity said. A day of no water can close down a business. A week of watershedding its a disaster for big businesses.”

[Image – CC Wikimedia Commons]