With the current power crisis forecasted to continue for at least a few more weeks to months, Eskom continuously releases new schedules on very short notice to indicate when various stages of load shedding will be implemented. Load shedding in South Africa is a national crisis, requiring a properly coordinated plan, pulling in all affected stakeholders to become part of the solution as the Water and Sanitation Department are fighting load shedding to keep services running.
When the power goes out for prolonged periods like during Stage 6 load shedding, water purification systems may not be able to function fully. Safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene includes bottled, boiled, or treated water. Your municipality, water service provider, or health department can make specific recommendations for boiling or treating water in your area, when the water quality decreases. As a result, the City has to find means to ensure that various water and sanitation infrastructure such as water and sewage pump stations and wastewater treatment works continue to function.
Power producer Eskom has announced the implementation of stage 4 – 6 load shedding which will cripple water generation regime of our major water works in the country. Load shedding affects water quality if the treatment works has insufficient back up power to run all treatment processes. Public water institutions use elevated gravity tanks that can deliver water for a period before they need to activate their backup generators to power their pumps. Many municipalities in South Africa admit to not having enough generators to power pumps during blackouts, especially with the rise in diesel prices, the cost of water will inevitably increase.
MEB follows rigorous operational and maintenance safeguards to protect the integrity of water quality during major outages. Through our world-renowned advanced water quality monitoring and treatment technology, we preempt water problems and solve them before they become a nuisance to the health of communities. Speak to our specialists today to circumvent the effects of continuous power outages.
