The City of Johannesburg has issued 139 notices, 41 citations and 52 fines to residents found not adhering to the level 2 water restrictions.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The metro enforced restrictions in a bid to encourage residents to use water sparingly.<\/p>\n
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%.<\/p>\n
Johannesburg Water has been receiving 15% less water from its bulk supplier, Rand Water.<\/p>\n
\u201cReservoir levels across the city are stable after the 15% restriction on their inflows and we haven\u2019t experienced any problems with our storage thus far,\u201d the metro said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Existing level 2 restrictions were implemented since November 2015. Users are compelled not to water their gardens between 6am and 6pm.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The city urged residents to remain considerate as the dam levels are still very low at the Integrated Vaal River System.<\/p>\n
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