Coping mechanism to low water reduction
Noblaw Sitshaluza
By: Nobulawa Setshaluza
The community of Snake Park is facing a difficult situation when it comes to the water reduction process. In some instances, we do receive messages from our community Facebook page or WhatsApp group about water reduction when it occurs. Residents in block 2 have come across a pond that is very wide and deep.
Endie Masemula is a male aged 37years old, residing at address number 5898, block 2. He says that “I have been gardening for the past 3 years and have been passionate about it, and learned the skill from my mother”. He even mentioned the fact that he took some classes to learn more about farming.
He is happy about the fact that he doesn’t have to stress about water reduction because he has underground water. In most cases, he uses the water from the pond to water his plants. He calls this water (mineral water), and the water is in the same area where he grows his plants. He also creates these beautiful teddy bear candles that he sells and some second-hand clothes during grant payment days.
Lungile Dladla, aged 42, married with 6 children, residing at number 5901, block 2. She is also very grateful for the water from the pond that comes from underground. She says that water helps her because during low water reduction, she still has access to water. She complains, though, that one minute there is water and without notice the taps run dry. She even says that sometimes the tap can be dry for more than 2 days, so she therefore uses underground water to wash her laundry and flush the toilet. She says that the water is not healthy enough for any individual to drink. She added by saying that trucks there are trucks that deliver water during low water reduction, people become very desperate for water and a lot of pushing occurs and you may come back with an empty bucket.
We are faced with either buying water from retail stores or walking a mile to Bramfisherville or Dobsonville asking for water from those nearby townships. I prefer a notice that tells us when and for how long we will be without water. The schools tend to release children early if there is no water in their taps.
We can conserve water by collecting rainwater when it rains or filling up buckets with water. The other way is to recycle water, especially for flushing our toilets.
