KNYSNA - The Department of Water and Sanitation has pledged R20-million for the Knysna water crisis.
Pemmy Majodina, Minister of Water and Sanitation, concluded her two-day visit to Knysna on Monday and agreed on urgent measures to address the crisis.
This as the Western Cape government said it was also doing everything possible to avert Day Zero.
The Akkerkloof Dam is sitting at around 18 percent capacity, with just 15 days of water left. This is compounded by long term neglect of maintenance of water infrastructure, high non-revenue water and vandalism.
Anton Bredell, Western Cape Local Government MEC, said water restrictions were now in place and residents had been urged to use water sparingly.
Outlining the government’s short-term programme, Bredell said throughout December, engineers and geohydrologist identified new sources of water.
READ | Knysna crisis blamed on poor maintenance as Day Zero looms
“We’ve identified seven holes. The quality of the water has been tested, and it's fit for human consumption.”
He said the experts were now working with the municipality to install pumps to get the water into the system. Bredell says this will add 4.7 megalitres of water to the system.
“We’ve also identified a spring; we will bring that water in. We sit at around 8 megalitres of water that we can bring into the municipality,” Bredell said.
“We are doing everything possible not to get to Day Zero. That would be chaotic.”