Right now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place on whether to get a water backup system at my home.
Worth the capital outlay or do we cling to hope that JHB’s water issues will improve?
Being without electricity is one thing, water is a completely different challenge all together.
Then there is the challenge of finding a reliable supplier at a reasonable price.
Hope is not a reliable strategy. Plan for the worst but hope for the best. Ask your local community who has had a borehole drilled and if they recommend anyone. Get some tanks for collecting rain water. You might wait years for a new, effective local government to fix the mess.
In a water-scarce country rainwater harvesting is good citizenship for everyone who can manage it.
You will be unlikely to save money. The filtering systems have to be serviced regularly. The tanks have to be cleaned occasionally. But, if you are as careful with household consumption as we learned to be in the Cape Town water crisis, you can become self sufficient in water.
Installing a greywater system for watering the garden should be considered non-negotiable. One can also install a greywater system for flushing toilets. These save manual collection and distribution of greywater.
We asked @Ferial: What is the practical plan to resolve the ongoing water crisis, especially in major cities like Johannesburg?
Her answer:
You heard that President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken personal charge of a national water task team – that’s because of how you have raised your voices. Civil society must insist on a seat at the table: I haven’t seen more coherent and considered responses anywhere other than the Water Crisis Committee which you can join on WhatsApp.
This interview with the Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister David Mahlobo in the Sunday Times at the weekend shows that water throttling and load-shifting will be accelerated. Basically, Johannesburg is in for the water version of load-shedding: rotational water cuts. More as we find out more. (The Sunday Times is paywalled and well-worth a subscription.)