The eThekwini Municipality says it was forced to cut the water supply to Tongaat last week in the interest of public safety.

In a statement announcing that the water supply had been restored the municipality said poor water quality and raw water had made its way into the water works because of rain.

“The water treatment plant in Tongaat was unable to treat the raw water and produce quality water,” explained the municipality’s Acting Head of Communications Unit, Mandla Nsele.

“The City was left with no option but to shut the system down to recover rather than endangering the lives of residents,” he added.

According to Nsele, the City is currently in the process of refurbishing the plant with works already at an advanced stage. “We are pulling out all the stops to prevent this from happening again,” he stressed.

After the City cut the water supply, the reservoirs supplying Tongaat and the surrounding areas dropped and took time to recover. Water to the area was restored late on Friday 22 February.

Excelling at service delivery

Meanwhile City Manager, Sipho Nzuza said the City has delivered houses, electrified homes and brought life giving water to residents despite numerous challenges.

Nzuza, was commenting on the Annual Report, which is a reflection of the City’s performance over the last financial year.

Some of the highlights of the Annual Report indicate that the Municipality has delivered to the poorest of the poor and while the drought and water loss posed a major challenge for the City in ensuring water delivery to communities, it was able to deliver potable water to 99.38% of households including households in informal areas.