Water is the word on everyone’s lips in the Western Cape at the moment; Saving Water, Water Crisis and the dreaded Day Zero.

We are certainly learning so many new, innovative ways to save and sharing tips in our communities. Unfortunately, there is also plenty of fake news, fear mongering and certainly some exploitation of the situation.

The type of energy we need as we tackle this problem is *Let’s get through this together!* To that end we would like to offer some pertinent local information for all our visitors and friends.

Paternoster forms part of the Saldanha Bay Municipality. We are currently on level 5 water restrictions which limits domestic use to 100 litres of water per person per day with other restrictions in place for businesses etc. The City of Cape Town has moved to level 6B from the 1st of Feb 2018, which cuts that by half to 50 litres per day. Traditionally we have followed on from Cape Town’s lead so we can anticipate being restricted to this amount in the near future.

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Below is a excerpt from the Saldanha Bay Municipality Media Release from the 25th of January 2018.

Water Savings:
Saldanha Bay Municipality’s current demand on the Western Cape Water Supply System shows that a 33% saving has been achieved, which does not meet the 45% target.
Saldanha Bay Municipality would like to congratulate water users who have contributed towards the saving and urges all water users to curb demand as a matter of urgency, in order to reach the 45% target.

Current Projects:
The following projects are in process and will ensure that Saldanha Bay Municipality does not reach Day Zero. Demand management is however of crucial importance to ensure water supply is stretched until additional water supply is augmented. Saldanha Bay Municipality’s demand at 45% curtailment (saving) is 20.35ML/Day.

Short Term/Current Projects for completion by 30 April 2018:

Project Description Completion date
Langebaan Road Aquifer Boreholes April 2018
Misverstand Dam: Lowering the level to which the dam can be abstracted to ensure minimum of 78 days of water supply from the dam at 10 ML/Day March 2018
Hopefield Boreholes Completed
Usage of treated effluent at ArcelorMittal to replace a component of the drinking water demand April 2018
Desalination: Sea Harvest April 2018
Desalination: Lucky Star April 2018

Medium Term  Projects for completion by 30 November 2018 to ensure water resilience, should another below average winter rainfall be experienced in 2018:

Project Description Completion date
Shelley Point Desalination September 2018
Elandsfontein Aquifer November 2018

*ML = Mega litres = Million litres
° It must be noted that the ground water abstraction projects at both Langebaan Road and Elandsfontein Aquifer reflected above are the short term abstraction yields. The abstraction will be lowered from 12ML/day and 14ML/day respectively after the immediate crisis period (4 – 5 months) to 8ML/Day to ensure sustainability.

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Stay in Paternoster has incorporated various measures to help curb use and save as much as we can. Most of the self-catering houses on our portfolio have installed flow regulators on showers and taps. Buckets for the collection of shower water are being provided so that the grey water collected during showers can be used for flushing toilets. Flush Buddies have been placed in toilet cisterns to limit amount of water used per flush. We have also put up notices in each house with guidelines on how to help save water. So when you stay with us please know you are doing your bit too!

In our office we have employed the motto *If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down* and provided spray bottles with half vinegar & half water to eliminate any unpleasant odours. We have also switched to waterless hand sanitizer.

On our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/accommodationinpaternoster/ we share tips and every Wednesday is #WaterWiseWednesday to heighten awareness and share news.

The message is clear; South Africa is one of the many countries around the world that has limited water resources. Water is a precious resource and one we just cannot live without. These measures truly need to become our NEW NORMAL.

Thank you for your efforts to help us, we welcome any ideas or suggestions and encourage a community of positive co-operation.

Water is Life wooden sign with a beach on background

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