Dam Levels 4th June
In spite of the wonderful rains we experienced on Friday and Sunday morning it seems it has done our dam system little good with the combined dam levels in the Nelson Mandela Dam system actually falling 0.5% from 21.73% last week to 21.24%. Whilst Cape Town has received good rains in some of the major catchment areas there dams are far from overflowing but surely their plight is not, and never has been, more critical than ours in the Eastern Cape in spite of all the press coverage and tons and tons of water aid sent from around South Africa in case they were to tun out of water. The Easter Cape truly is the poor cousin.
Dam Levels 28th May
The graphic below shows the dam levele on Thursday before the good rains that fell on Friday. Hopefully the rains also fell in the catchment area for dam leves were certainly looking dire last week with Kouga now below 9% and overall levels down a further 1.5%. The annual Hankey / Patensie Dry Period begins on 16th July and lasts until 1st July and during this period the Gamtoos Irrigation Board performs maintenance on the canal system which supplies water from the Kouga Dam to these towns. During this period there will be times when there will be no water for domestic use but water will be trucked in.
Dam Levels as at 14th May
Lest we have lost motivation to save water possibly these latest dam level readings will re-inspire us all to make every effort to save water. Collective dam levels have dropped 22.45% from 24% (1.5% in a month). With no heavy rainfall in forecasts the situation worsens by the day.
Dam Levels as at 16th April
Week by week our dam levels fall lower and lower and this week fall below 24% to just 23.99%.
Dam Levels as at 9th April
Hopefully, some winter rain will bless the Nelson Mandela Bay dam catchment area for dam levels continue to fall.
Dam Levels as at 3rd April
Dam levels have again fallen in the past week in spite of the rains we experienced which seemed to do little more than green up our gardens. Obviously there is no need to remind readers to do all they can to save water. Old habits are sometimes hard to break but that 10-minute hot shower is simply a no-no! Levels have dropped from a collective 72143 Ml to 68699 Ml since 19th February.
Dam Levels as at 26th March
As can be seen from the graphs below the water situation is not improving with dam levels collectively below 25%, a slight decrease from last month. With the Easter holidays ahead of us we must make sure visitors are aware of the serious water shortages we are facing and they must assist us by saving water wherever possible.
Dam levels as at 19th March
In spite of the wonderful rains we have had in St Francis, it seems the catchment area is not benefitting as there has been a slight decrease in overall dam levels from last week. No need then to remind everyone to do all they can to SAVE WATER!
Dam levels as at 12th March
Dam levels as at 12th March
Dam levels at 19th February
Dam levels as at 19th February
Share your ideas or what you are doing to save water as a business or individual
Capetonians are coming up with some innovative ideas to save every last drop. Let’s see what ideas we in St Francis can come up with. St Francis Today will leave this page up as a forum whare readers can add their ideas.
Comments can also include where people are seen to be abusing water suchas a neighbour washing a car with a hose or a leaking tap on the beach.
All deas welcome – we are in a dire situation and need to save every drop
1. Use a cup to brush your teeth and rinse.
2. Use a tub in the shower to collect the water. Shower yourself wet, switch off, lather up, shower off, stop. You can use this water to keep your car windows clean or on your veggie patch.
Better still do a bucket bath and just use a sponge…
3. electric razors.
4. use a dishwasher only when full.
5. connect up your grey water to flow into your garden or buckets.
6. put a brick or stone in your toilet cistern.
7. Pee outside…
This is an excellent idea!
Whilst walking past a St Francis Bay property this afternoon I noticed that the front lawn was being watered using pop up sprinkers .. and thought lets check if its municipal water or not so I turned the water off at the municipal water meter and lone behold the sprinkers stopped .. perhaps this is the only way to deal with non resident abusive water consumers .. I will leave it up to you to decide if I turned the water back on or not ????
To get a regular update on the Dam Levels readers can download an application onto their phones – That Dam App. Very interesting and informative – also scary!!
All the flat areas and balconies that my thatch roof drain onto are connected to tanks via 50mm pipes that run under the decks, lawn or paving in certain areas. Each outlet has a leaf or particle discharge wire gauze filter so the tanks receive clean water. The tank water can be pumped into the house in emergencies via filters. A diverter valve routes the pumped tank water to my sprinkler system and a garden tap. Remember: 1Sq Mtr of roof area captures 1Ltr of water with 1mm of rain. The tanks fill quickly. Alan Orchard
Hi Allan, would you please share your design with us- we are self-building and your system makes a great deal of sense!
Sure Lynda, give me a call. 0828009321
1 vk meter van vloer se area as die reën vertikaal val en die dak is skuins?
In this video I talk about the biggest way water can be saved. Something that is not often brought up. References in the description section of the video. https://youtu.be/x7DdhjJWqY8