Water restrictions are currently still in place to ensure the continued supply of water to all areas within the Greater Hermanus.
It appears that the water network is stabilising as we did not receive any complaints about water availability today, as opposed to the previous days when the high lying areas of Vermont and Voëlklip battled with sufficient supply. Currently the Vermont and Voëlklip reservoirs levels are 47% and 50 and 60% respectively.
Some residents proposed that the Municipality should shut off sections of the network to increase the reservoir levels, but this is not advised as it is expected that more pipebreaks will be experienced, thus defeating the purpose.
At this time, water restrictions will remain in place until the water supply has sufficiently stabilised. The lifting of all water restrictions in Hermanus will only be re-assessed after the repairs to the main supply line from the De Bos Dam has been finalised. Rest assured, the technical teams are working tirelessly to affect the permanent repairs to this, as well as the Hemel-en-Aarde pipelines.
Repairs must be completed before the summer peak requirement of 13,4 Ml/day as the current capacity is less than 12 Ml/day. Approval will be sought for the direct appointment of a reputable contractor as the normal supply chain processes will just take too long.
We have received a number of complaints about people washing cars. Upon investigation, in almost all cases a bucket, and not a hosepipe was used. The use of hose pipes for any purpose, be it gardening or washing cars, is prohibited. The use of a bucket to wash a car is permitted.
However, we seriously need to limit water use, so take shorter showers and do not bath, only flush the toilet when it is absolutely necessary and refrain from using water guzzling automatic washing machines and dishwashers.
Accommodation facilities are requested to bring the water situation under the attention of their patrons and ensure that there is compliance. Remove the bath plugs to compel your patrons to take a shower and request them to use towels more than once. Although our water is safe for drinking, encourage visitors to bring bottled water when visiting our area for drinking purposes. Every drop saved, counts.
Residents in Vermont and Fernkloof must also note that essential permanent repairs and improvements to the water network will be done on 17 and 19 October 2023, respectively. These repairs have already been postponed to accommodate the residents. The Municipality will give notice of the water outage to these areas via SMS, 48 hours before the time.
