Residents have an open invitation to meet with the Mayor and her team on the first Thursday of each month to raise concerns and to discuss issues. No appointment is necessary, and the meetings are held on a first-come, first-served basis.
The first First Thursday event of 2025 will take place at the Kleinmond Town Hall on 6 February from 17:00 to 19:00. This is an excellent opportunity, especially for residents of Ward 9 and 10, to discuss the challenges related to low water pressure experienced during the December holidays.
As is evident from the water consumption tendencies during the holiday period (see details elsewhere), all water works throughout Overstrand were under severe pressure. The high demand despite, none of the reservoirs ran dry and water purification and treatment plants remained fully functional throughout – a successful outcome that can partially be ascribed to residents and holidaymakers heeding our call to reduce water consumption in an attempt to prevent disruptions.
Nevertheless, specific networks (in particular Kleinmond’s Sea Avenues [Seelane] and areas below Palmiet Road as well as Stony Point, Rondevlei, and Silversands in Betty’s Bay) were affected by issues relating to weak water pressure and outages.
In addition to high water consumption due to increased demand, several other factors contributed to these issues:
- pipe breaks caused no-flow during recovery and reduced pressure while the system was being bled to remove air;
- some leaks on main lines were not immediately visible since water flowed into storm-water infrastructure; and
- instances where valves on main pipelines were closed or partially closed.
Residents are encouraged to attend the meeting to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges related to low water pressure and to raise any other concerns.
