WATER rationing is coming for the residents of Hankey and Patensie in the Kouga Municipality.
And if it doesn’t rain soon, they could soon be without any water at all as the local dam has reached critical levels.
The municipality said the Kouga dam, the main source of water for the towns, dropped to an alarming 7,17%.
Mayor Horatio Hendricks called on all residents, businesses and visitors to use water only when absolutely necessary.
Hendricks told Daily Sun: “There has been a big increase in the amount of water used by these towns over the past two weeks.
“If the trend continues, the taps could run dry within the next few weeks.”
Hendricks said Hankey and Patensie had used up their entire water quotas for July during the first two weeks of the month.
“We would like to plead with residents to cut back drastically on their water usage as a matter of urgency,” he said.
He warned the municipality might have to consider rationing water to the towns.
“The municipality has, since the beginning of the year, installed 90 rainwater tanks at strategic places – including municipal buildings – at the towns.
“We’ve also been searching for underground water,” he said.
“Exploratory boreholes have been drilled at the Kouga Dam and near
Zuurbron.
“While we did strike water, the yields appear low. We’re awaiting the final test results.”
Hendricks said the Kouga region was a drought disaster area and residents had been called on to use less than 50 litres of water per person per day.
The combined levels of the supply dams in the municipality dropped to 18,88% this week.
