BCM residents have been urged to prepare for water cuts on Thursday and Friday.
The cuts will be caused by the maintenance of the Umzonyana waterworks plant in Scenery Park and will lead to widespread low pressures and no water to some high level areas of greater East London.
The municipality is asking residents to store emergency water to be used during this period and have also advised residents to ensure all taps are fully closed since water will be restored without further notice.
According to BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya, Thursday’s cuts will affect the greater East London area including Gonubie and Mdantsane and could carry on to Friday due to unforeseen circumstances.
Ngwenya asked residents to ensure their tanks are filled and to have buckets of water on standby for the duration of the water shut-off.
He also reminded residents that BCM is currently under stage 3 water restrictions and said the municipality needed to reduce water consumption by at least 35%.
Under stage 3, the following restrictions apply:
- Residents must use non-potable water for gardening
- Watering or irrigation with municipal drinking water is only allowed before 9am or after 6pm and only for 30 minutes at a time
- Washing or hosing down of hard surfaces such as pavements is forbidden and residents must have written permission from BCM to refill or empty their swimming pools
- Rainwater or grey water (dirty water without chemicals) must be used for flushing toilets