KNYSNA NEWS - The precariously low level of the dam supplying Knysna with water has been linked to two "compromised" pump stations.
The off-river holding dam is running dry, which might result in Knysna's water supply being cut off.
A photograph of the Akkerkloof Dam, taken on Monday 17 June, shows it to be "probably at the lowest (level) it's ever been", Sharon Sabbagh, shadow MMC for finance, and councillor for Ward 9, Knysna, said.
The Akkerkloof Dam receives water from the holding Glebe Dam.
Sabbagh said the pump station at Glebe Dam, and another one on the water supply chain, were "compromised" as their pumps had been removed for maintenance, and "I'm aware that the pumps are not being reinstalled because the service providers have not been paid".
She said an urgent section 154 (of the Constitution) meeting - to discuss the preventative steps imposed on Knysna Municipality prior to it possibly being placed under administration - between the Western Cape government and the Knysna Municipality had taken place on Tuesday 18 June.
The meeting had dealt with various directives the municipality had received from the office of Western Cape Minister of Local Government and Environmental Affairs, Anton Bredell.
Directives involved water, sewage, and refuse management.
"I hope the water crisis (in Knysna) was one of the items on top of the agenda," Sabbagh said, "because if we don't deal with it immediately, we're going to have a serious problem - as in no water".
She also hoped the debt owed to the municipality by a consortium, which she estimated amounted to more than R70 million, had been discussed, because the debt, in part, impacted on the cash-strapped municipality's ability to maintain Knysna's infrastructure.
"The town is limping," she said, and "total collapse" had been prevented only "thanks to residents and the Greater Knysna Business Chamber, that are doing all the work".
Compounding the water crisis is the staggering amount of water being lost daily through overflowing reservoirs and pipe leaks.
'No sense of urgency'
On Thursday, 6 June, the Knysna-Plett Herald reported that a reservoir in Ward 10, Knysna, had been overflowing strongly for more than two months, without successful intervention by the municipality - and on Monday 17 June the overflow there continued.
The wasted water from the reservoir, at Eastford Country Estate, has created a fast-running rivulet, which flows down a slope.
Sabbagh said on Monday there was still "water running down the mountain".
"I'm gobsmacked. It's treated water, Nobody has done anything about it. There's no sense of urgency," she said.
"We've got the Knysna Oyster Festival coming up, which will increase the demand for water."
Water is flowing equally strongly alongside a home in Milkwood Drive, Ward 10, Knysna. On Friday, 14 June, the councillor for the ward, Peter Bester, said the water, likely from an overflowing reservoir, was flowing so strongly the home "was in danger of having its foundations compromised".
On Monday 17 June, the strong flow there continued, too.
Bester said the water being lost in Milkwood Drive amounted to between 5 and 15 litres per second.
Roughly the same amount of water is being lost per second at Eastford Country Estate.
Bester said money budgeted for work on parts of the town's reticulation system had been diverted by the municipality to maintenance of roads.
Sabbagh said on Monday that water was leaking at a further two sites in Knysna - in Nekkies and in Bongani.
Water dirty
Knysna residents have complained about the quality of the water coming from their taps.
A Kanonkop, Concordia resident said: "In the morning the water seems nice and clean but just before 09:00, then the water changes, and becomes dirty, brown."
A similar complaint was made by residents of Dam se Bos.
Information from the municipality was sought on Akkerkloof Dam and Glebe Dam's present levels of capacity, comment on the water wastage at the sites mentioned and on the murky water, and when obtained, will be published.
The Western Cape government was asked to comment on Akkerkloof Dam running dry, including on measures to be taken to offset the potential hazards Knysna residents might face. When obtained, this too will be published.
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