The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will start seeking competent contractors over the next few weeks to assist in resolving the protracted sewage pollution of the Vaal river. The department, after finalising the scope of what is required to solve the longstanding sewage pollution challenge, will advertise 26 work packages, with the appointed contractors on the ground during the December festive season.

The City of Cape Town has lifted its strict water restrictions after several years of drought conditions and a close call with a “day zero” scenario where the taps could have run dry. Now the dams are 100% full and providing the city with water.

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering and the Water Institute of Southern Africa, in a joint statement, condemn US President Donald Trump’s “inflammatory” statement about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
 
The South African water professionals say they are deeply concerned by the irresponsible comments made by Trump about the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the GERD.

According to a rough consensus derived from its end customers and partners, about 38% of South Africa’s produced water is non-revenue water, but water technology company Xylem Water Solutions South Africa says its key technologies assist in addressing this challenge. Non-revenue water is water that has been produced, but is lost or unaccounted for through leaks, faulty monitoring or theft.

[Kubatana.net] Serious water shortages have hit communities in Zaka rural district after water points, wells ran dry and boreholes broke down. Speaking during the community feedback meeting facilitated by Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) in ward 18, the villagers stated that, the residents have been reduced to water scavengers as the water crisis worsen owing to lack of repair and maintenance of boreholes and water points by the District Development Fund (DDF) department and the Rural District

[263Chat] Mutare City Council officials say the local municipality is making frantic efforts to mobilize additional resources to the tune of US$450 000 to execute works for the completion for a water pipeline project.

[New Times] A mobile water treatment plant is set to be installed in Karongi District to cater for the rising demand for water, which has been linked to the growing number of hotels along Lake Kivu.

[Govt of SA] Slight improvement in Limpopo dams but residents warned not to waste

[IPS] Bulawayo, Zimbabwe — Dotted across the Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, the water tanks installed in private residences is evidence that years of a water crisis, that has seen some suburbs here going for months without running water, has not spared anyone. The large plastic drums, locally called Jojo tanks after the company that manufacturers them, and which have a storage range of up to 10,000 litres, have assumed a class status of sorts in Bulawayo.

[World Bank] The community in Enda-Mokoni Woreda in Tigray Regional State in Ethiopia, has long relied on natural spring water from the May-Muk micro watershed for daily water needs and to irrigate crops. But since the 1970s, increased demand for farmland, firewood and other natural resources degraded the watershed, threatening livelihoods and the community’s water supply, said farmer Hailu Birhanu.