The Stellenbosch Municipality has launched a state-of-the-art water purification plant as part of its Drought Response Plan that will be able to convert borehole water into safe, drinkable water.
The plant is supplied by two boreholes and is capable of producing up to 1.3 million litres of water per day. This represents 7.2% of the town’s current daily water use
Stellenbosch Municipal manager Geraldine Mettler on Tuesday launched the plant in an effort to continue with water saving plans in light of the drought which has hit the Western Cape.
Mettler testing the new purification plant. Photo: Supplied
There is a plan to roll out similar plants in areas such as Die Braak, Kylemore and Wemmershoek during the course of this month.
In February it was announced that Stellenbosch water restrictions were raised to level 6B status and residents are now allowed to use only 50 litres per person per day.
On Wednesday it was announced in the media that day zero had been “defeated”. Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane said the City of Cape Town would even consider relaxing the current restriction levels from 6B to level 5 depending on the winter rainfall.
According to the Stellenbosch Municipality the new plants will still be used when the drought ends and will form part of the municipality’s permanent water master plan.