The Department of Water and Sanitation is calling on Gauteng residents to conserve and reuse water after Dam levels in the province declined last week.

The Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) declined by 0.7% moving from 90.3% to 89.6%. Last year during the same period the system was sitting at 86.0%.

Similarly the Vaal Dam has declined slightly this week, going down from 105.7% to 104.6% Compared to last year during the same period, the dam was at an impressive 102.7%.

The Grootdraai Dam dropped slightly from 100.8% to 99.9%, recording a fall by 0.9%. During the same period last year the dam was hovering at 94.4%.

Levels in the Bloemhof Dam have also dipped by 2.5%, falling from 104.3% to 101.8%. In the preceding year during the same time, the dam stood at 101.6%.

Conserve resources

“After rising week-on -week, the fall of the system is a sign that as we are approaching the dry winter season, the levels in the IVRS may go even further down,” the department said.

“Hence, we are continuing to encourage communities and industry to conserve the available water resources.”

“The Department is calling on water users to reuse water as the shortage of the resource is become a reality. At the same time the Department is sensitising everyone to be careful when reusing water as this may pose risks to health and safety. For example, water that has been used is not to be used for drinking purposes and may only be used for watering plants, cleaning and other such activities, the department explained.