The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is calling on residents and businesses to start
initiating their own rainwater harvesting methods as the heavy rains experienced over the
past few days missed the catchment areas yet again.
The heavy rains led to flooding, which resulted in more than a thousand people being
evacuated to different community halls as a precautionary measure.
Since late Monday this
week, the Metro has been busy with mop-up operations to clear roads, residential areas and
unblock stormwater drainage systems.
A total of almost 100mm of rain was recorded within Nelson Mandela Bay since Friday, 12
May to Sunday, 14 May, while the catchment areas received between 20mm and 30mm of rain during the same period.
Since Monday the NMB Water Services Sub-directorate has been monitoring the inflow into
the dams in the catchment areas, with a mere 3.79% increase from 13.03% to 16.82%.
With more rain that started to fall around midnight last night, and already saturated soil, most
of it falling in the catchment areas, not matter how little, will reach our dams.
The last time the Metro experienced similar heavy rain was in May last year. Sadly, the
heavy rains in May 2022 only gave about seven days of reprieve.
At that time about 50mm
of rain fell within the Nelson Mandela Bay region, however, the metro had to evacuate people
from flooded homes in low-lying areas.
According to the South African Weather Services forecaster, Garth Sampson, rain
harvesting is one of the major means of reducing consumption.
The Nelson Mandela Bay
consumption levels remain very high, currently between 270 and 300 million litres per day.
“One need not go large initially. The misconception that one cannot afford to harvest water is
not true. In fact, the opposite is true. One can start with 25-litre containers, old plastic oil
drums, new dirt drums or even flow pins. Then one can advance to proper tanks, each time
saving money on your municipal water and sewerage account. You will soon see how this
saving adds up. This excludes the cost of higher tariffs when consumption exceeds your
limited allocation,” said Sampson.
“Although we may be moving to an El Nino weather pattern, a state favourable for summer
rainfall regions, but more favourable for winter rainfall regions, the seasonal forecast looks
promising.
“However, we cannot stop our water-saving efforts until we actually receive the
rain,” added Sampson.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Water and Sanitation Senior Director, Barry Martin echoed
Sampson’s sentiments that rain harvesting is one of the sustainable ways of using water.
“This forms part of the Water Saving Lifestyle message that we have been communicating to
residents and businesses. Any initiative of rainwater harvesting by residents or businesses,
big or small, will add to a total that will make a meaningful difference in alleviating pressure
on the system,” said Martin.
Sampson said that more floods are expected from the current rain which started falling last
night, 17 May due to the saturation of the ground after the recent heavy rain. About 20mm to 30mm is expected.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has warned residents living in low-lying areas and
informal settlements to be cautious during this time.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Disaster Management Centre has issued the following precautionary tips:
- Elevate important belongings, food, appliances and bedding.
- Avoid low-lying areas and river crossings at low-water bridges.
- Make sure roofs are sealed against leaks.
- Try to divert water away from houses/shacks.
- Look out for weather warnings in the local media and Nelson Mandela Bay social media pages.
- If you have to evacuate, take warm clothing and blankets with you to the relief centre.
- Cooperate with Disaster Management officers on site as they are trained to assist you in mitigating the risk.
For any emergencies, affected persons can call the Service Delivery Call Centre at 0800 20
50 50 or the Nelson Mandela Bay Disaster Management JOC at 041 501 7990.