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The DA governed Kouga Municipality has taken a major step to mitigate against dams running dry by completing the first of four water purifying plants to ensure safe drinking water from boreholes.

The first plant has been constructed at the Jeffreys Bay Water Treatment Works (WTW) and will remove iron and manganese from borehole water. A second plant is currently being constructed at the same WTW and will be completed by the end of this month.

Two more plants are being planned for Humansdorp and St Francis Bay.

Currently, borehole water is fed into the existing water reticulation system where it is blended with treated dam water.

When this project is finalised the Kouga Municipality will be able to provide potable borehole water to its residents, even if the Churchill Dam runs dry. In so doing Kouga will successfully end its dependency on dam water and avoid Day Zero by only making use of groundwater. This will however only be necessary in the event of dams running dry, and not before.

Over the past five years, under the leadership of Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks, the DA governed Kouga has spent more than R200 million on water augmentation and drought mitigation projects. A network of 38 boreholes has been created which will ensure that towns such as Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Hankey will have water reticulation upon dam depletion. The Kouga Municipality has also completed the installation of 90% of its emergency water points.

The DA remains committed to ensuring that we provide fair water access to our communities during this difficult and trying time.

Issued by Vicky Knoetze, MPL - Tsitsi-Kouga Constituency Leader