But the reality is that unpredictable water disruptions across the Metro will be ongoing for some time.
According to the Municipality, while the Churchill Dam did receive good inflow, the supporting Impofu Dam (both of which feed the University’s North, South, Ocean Sciences, Second Avenue and Bird Street campuses) will not be operational until the barge project has been completed. The Metro further decided to limit output from the Churchill Dam to 25MLD instead of a possible 60MLD.
As a result, water is now being moved to various reservoirs across the Metro. This means all areas – not just those areas in the no-water red zone, inclusive of our campuses – will face periods of intermittent water supply.
All citizens are called to urgently reduce water usage to bring daily collective consumption levels down from 285MLD to 230MLD.
We must continue to do what we can to save water by cutting back on our usage, thereby also extending the time to Day Zero and inculcating better water usage behaviours.
This reduction of water consumption will also give the University much-needed time to introduce its own alternative water plans that will make the institution less reliant on the municipal supply.
Implementation of these plans (introduction of reclaimed and borehole water) is already under way to enable the University to continue functioning without too much inconvenience to staff and students.
For all related water crisis information visit our water crisis website