FIFTY litres per person per day.
That’s how much water Kouga residents and guests have been urged to limit themselves to this festive season.
“The ongoing drought has had a major impact on our water supply,” said Kouga Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks.
“If it doesn’t rain soon, there is a real danger that the storage dams will drop to a level where water can no longer be extracted.
“It is critical that all of us, young and old, increase our efforts to save water.”
Hendricks encouraged residents to establish a culture of water-saving at their homes.
“Just one flush of the toilet uses five days’ worth of drinking water,” he said.
“You can minimise the amount of drinking water that is flushed down the drain by re-using your bath or shower water for this purpose.
“A plastic bottle filled with water and placed in the toilet cistern can also help to reduce how much water is used when you flush.”
The level of the storage dams that supply both Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay with water dropped to 35,67% this week.
“The level of the Impofu Dam, which supplies towns such as Jeffreys Bay and St Francis Bay, stood at a shocking 17,49% on Monday,” he said.
“While the level of the Churchill Dam, which also supplies these towns with water, stood at 99,31%, it is a very small dam and insufficient to meet the needs of both Kouga and Nelson Mandela Bay residents for an extended period.”
He said water rationing was still being enforced at Hankey and Patensie, which relies on the Kouga Dam. The level of the Kouga Dam stood at 32,79% this week.
“We have been making good progress with our borehole programme and expect to bring extra water on line by March next year.
“Until such a time, the water supply for the summer remains limited. We all need to play our part and save as much as we can to help prevent taps from running dry.”
