Awards for water
2008-11-13
THE Water Services section of Drakenstein Municipality excelled during the past year, receiving two national and four provincial water sector awards. The first national award was made by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), for the municipality’s highly successful water demand management program over the past decade. The Municipality is currently saving 50% on the projected annual water demand through several initiatives, including pressure management, leak detection and repair, increased public awareness, as well as installation of water saving devices. All the interventions were launched and completed in-house by the Water Services section. A total of R31,4 million is saved annually on bulk water purchase cost. The municipality also received a grant of R500 000 from DWAF for further leak repairs. The other national award to Drakenstein was made by the South African Local Government Association (Salga) for the best newcomer to the national water services benchmarking initiative in which 67 municipalities took part. The four provincial awards were all made by DWAF’s regional office in the Western Cape. Firstly, the Municipality received an award for the successful water demand management program, on a provincial level out of thirty municipalities. The second award was for the successful water quality management program, the third was for the municipality’s compliance of more than 90% with the requirements of the Water Services Act, and the fourth was for the successful eradication of the bucket sanitation system within the nationally set targets. A total of 350 bucket toilets in Saron and Wellington were replaced with waterborne toilets between 2004 and 2006. Drakenstein Municipality’s excellent performance in the water sector is á just reward for the team work, commitment, dedication and perseverance of all the staff members of the Water Services section, says municipal manager Dr Sidima Kabanyane.
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