The City of Tshwane is set to deploy water tankers to areas currently affected by water restrictions.

Several areas in Gauteng have been hit by water supply issues following electrical problems at one of Rand Waters pumping stations.

City spokesperson Samkelo Mgobozi told Eye Witness News: “It’s not too bad; we will continue to monitor the situation, as it’s not out of control as yet. You must also understand that it’s December month and the demand has quite increased.

“The areas that are most affected right now are Centurion, some areas in Pretoria west and Atteridgeville.”

Dire water situation in Gauteng

Meanwhile the Department of Water and Sanitation is urging the public to intensify its water conservation efforts as dam levels decline with the increasing temperatures.

“The impact of the high temperatures and excessive use of water has been felt in the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), which continues to fall week-on-week.

“The system fell from 71.9% last week to 71.3% this week.  Last year during the same period, the system was at 71.1%.  This indicates that the current level of the system is slightly higher compared to last year,” the department says.

“Taking into account that water consumption per person in the country is higher than the global average, the Department is urging the public to use water sparingly.

“The Department is appealing  to  both  households and industries in Gauteng to keep their water usage in check and to work on driving down their water demand. The province is likely to face a dire situation in the coming weeks and months if excessive water usage continued,” it concludes.