Pretoria - The City of Johannesburg has issued 139 notices, 41 citations and 52 fines to residents found not adhering to the level 2 water restrictions.
The city on Tuesday said many of these offences were picked up after tip-offs received from community members. The fines are between R1 000 and R1 500 per offence.
The metro enforced restrictions in a bid to encourage residents to use water sparingly.
This was in response to a notice by the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation to have the city reduce its water usage by 15% with immediate effect due to the water levels in the Integrated Vaal River System dropping below the threshold level of 60%.
Johannesburg Water has been receiving 15% less water from its bulk supplier, Rand Water.
“Reservoir levels across the city are stable after the 15% restriction on their inflows and we haven’t experienced any problems with our storage thus far,” the metro said.
The restriction of supply by throttling the system and water restriction tariffs, combined with enforcement, has seen domestic consumption being reduced by just an average of 3.5%. This is still far below the required 15% reduction.
Existing level 2 restrictions were implemented since November 2015. Users are compelled not to water their gardens between 6am and 6pm.
No hose pipes may be used to wash cars and clean pavements. Swimming pools may also not be filled by using municipal water. Only borehole water may be used for that.
The city urged residents to remain considerate as the dam levels are still very low at the Integrated Vaal River System.
Consumers have been urged to continue reporting non-compliance by phoning the JMPD 24/7 line: 011 758 9650. - SAnews.gov.za
