Letsibogo Dam also drying up
Ivy Matlho | Friday December 18, 2015 16:45
Letsibogo is one of the country’s dams that have enjoyed stable water levels in recent years. Speaking at Selebi-Phikwe Town Council consultative meeting, Makepe said on average the town and its surrounding areas consume 800,000 cubic metres of water in a month.
Makepe said the water levels at the dam has now dropped to 39.7 percent, which is considered very low.
“Simply put, the dam has reached a crisis level,” he said yesterday in an interview.
He also said as a way of conserving water, WUC has come up with some restrictions. He said there are some measures that are put in place like restriction of watering recreational parks. “We have realised that the water level at Letsibogo dam has dropped. We want to avoid a situation whereby the dam dries up completely.
That is why we have come up with some restrictions to conserve water,” he said. Councillor Molosiwa Molosiwa bemoaned that residents of Selebi-Phikwe are still using water recklessly. He said that this is a concern because the water level at Letsibogo had dropped hence the need for everyone to make sure they conserve water. He said BCL mineworkers who are staying at the company’s houses are some of the people who fail to use water properly.
“BCL employees are some of our residents in Selebi–Phikwe who fail to conserve water. They use portable water for trees,” he said. Molosiwa said in order to ensure that water is not misused, WUC and council should engage in talks with BCL mine so that the latter can teach employees about water conservation.
Molosiwa also said WUC should also improve on their response time to repair leaking water pipes to ensure that minimum water is wasted. Botshabelo South councillor, Thabologo Sethuba shared the same sentiments that WUC encourage water wastage by not responding to leaking and broken pipes on time.
“It is not even easy for us as councillors to encourage members of the public not to waste water when the WUC itself is doing little to minimise water wastage. I know of many pipes that were leaking for a significant period but WUC did not repair them on time,” she said.
Meanwhile, Makepe said that water quality compliance in Selebi-Phikwe is at 100% while in surrounding areas compliance is at 67%. He said in other areas they purify water with chlorine to make it safe for drinking.