PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The Western Cape government will provide Bitou Municipality with R800 000 funding to bolster the municipality's desalination plant.

Local government MEC Anton Bredell has described the plant as a model for other towns to follow and said the funds will be used to replace membranes at the plant.

Speaking after a closed meeting in the Bitou council chambers on Tuesday to discuss the water situation, Bredell said he was pleased to see that Bitou sets an example of how to run a desalination plant.

"We've had many desalination plants in the past in the province and few of them contribute continuously towards the quantity of water within the system," he said. "It's a decent, nice plant.It's a great example for the rest, some of which don't produce a drop."

The plant is providing over 20% of the municipality's water needs, according to Bredell, who said Bitou Municipality has "the right recipe".

Population growth

Bredell was pleased that the political leadership and administration has Bitou's five- and 10-year water plants "ready to go".

He said Bitou has had to contend with about 19% population growth and to accommodate this, long-term planning was needed. "That is why this kind of interaction is crucial for us."

He assured the residents of Plettenberg Bay and Bitou that the municipality was in good hands and he was pleased with the work done by the council and the administration.

Bitou Mayor Jessica Kamkam thanked the residents of Bitou for saving water and helping to reach the nine megalitres per day target, and asked their continued efforts to bring the target down even lower, to seven megalitres a day.

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