After days of inaccessibility issues resulting from severe flooding at the entrance of the Overberg Water Plant facility (as show in images below), access has been gained and the pumps have been switched on to pump water into Caledon’s reservoir.
However, as a result of the Eskom electrical failure on the Helderstroom line, that supplies electricity to the plant, it has created additional challenges.
Overberg Water has to run generators for their pumps that feed Caledon, amongst others, but the generators cannot run on a continuous basis and use up to 2000 liters of per 24 hour cycle.
This has resulted in Theewaterskloof’s reservoirs not being able to fill up to a capacity fast enough to provide water to household taps.
Water tankers were hired in to supply water to residents, Old Age homes and businesses since Thursday afternoon, but due to the roads of neighbouring towns still being damaged, it has made the waiting times between trucks longer.
Other towns that have also had storm damage to their water infrastructure like Grabouw, Villiersdorp, Greyton and Genadendal are also having to fill tankers to reach their residents and provide water.
We understand and acknowledge customers frustrations, but we can assure customers that everything is being done to fix electrical and water supplies in all Theewaterskloof towns after the severe damage done by the storm.
As the water at Caledon water plant increases, Theewaterskloof can manage to fill the water tankers and roam the streets faster.
Water trucks are currently operating in the residential areas to supply water to residents and will continue to do so until the full water supply has been restored.
Eskom has put a dedicated team on the Helderstroom power line to urgently fix the damage on the line. Once power has been restored to the plant it we will be able to run water into the reservoirs at full capacity.
We have also managed to restore water flow in Voorstekraal and are waiting for reservoirs to build capacity.
We once again apologize to all residents, businesses and organisations for the huge disruption and inconvenience.
