Mangaung Metro Municipality has released a statement notifying residents about the high muddiness in the water at Welbedacht Dam.
As a result of the recent rainfall on 7 December 2018 at Caledon River, the river and dam are full of sand and this affects operations at the water treatment works as raw water is too sandy and takes longer to purify.
This calls for process controllers to reduce the outflow at the high lift pump station (purified water), and will affect levels at the main reservoirs that are supplied by the mainline from Welbedacht to Bloemfontein.
BloemWater is working around the clock to handle this challenge at the plant and the municipality assures residents that the water quality will not be compromised; however, the quantities/pressure will be reduced.
In another short statement they added that BloemWater was unable to pump water to the Brandkop reservoir for the past few days, and that they are currently trying to get water pumped from other water resources. Areas in the south of Mangaung have been affected and taps have already run dry.
Residents should also take note that it may take a while to fill the reservoir to capacity to accommodate all residents. The Municipality said that they would consistently update members of the community on the progress.
