In an effort to help reduce water usage to the required 50 litres per person per day and to get Cape Town through the worst drought in recorded history, the City of Cape Town is creating more automated pressure zones, which means we will be able to adjust water pressure remotely and work more efficiently.
As part of our basket of drought interventions, the City continues to roll out automated pressure zones for the implementation of pressure management which helps us to adjust pressure remotely. This technology reduces the flow of water and thus helps to reduce water usage. To install an automated zone, the City needs to test the integrity of the local reticulation network.
The first planned works in the Rondebosch area, which is bounded by the Klipfontein Road to the north, Main Road to the west, the M5 Freeway to the east and Avenue De Mist to the south, is set to get under way on Tuesday evening 13 March 2018 from 20:00 to 04:00.
Other areas in the metro will be informed of supply disruptions in due course.
Not only does pressure management generally lower consumption by reducing the rate at which water flows to properties, it also reduces leaks and pipe bursts by better ensuring that pressure remains within levels that the pipework can tolerate, and reduces the rate of loss from leaks and bursts.
We recently successfully tested areas including in the Cape Town CBD, in the Oakdale area, Green Point, Paarden Eiland, Woodstock, Salt River, Epping, Delft and Brooklyn.
The pressure management programme started in 2004. There are more than 115 automated zones across the city which are being prioritised based on their leak and burst rates. Areas with high water pressure typically experience more leaks and bursts.
Affected areas are requested not to stockpile large volumes of municipal water.
Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town