Rand Water on Thursday said it is currently abstracting slightly above its new allocation provided by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) of an additional 200 Mℓ/d.

Earlier this month, the DWS temporarily amended Rand Water’s abstraction licence to enable the abstraction of more raw water from the Integrated Vaal River System through the Vaal dam than the base licence allows.

Rand Water’s permanent 20-year abstraction licence provides for 1 600 000 000 m³/y, or 4 383 Mℓ/day, however, the utility was provided an expanded allocation of 1 803 000 000 m³/y, or 4 939 Mℓ/d.

The updated licence conditions, effective February 15 to June 30, allow for an additional 27 200 000 m³, or 5 139 Mℓ/day, over the five-month period, equating to an extra 200 Mℓ/day.

Upon the expiry of the temporary licence, abstraction will revert to 1 803 000 000 m³/y, or 4 939 Mℓ/d, until the end of September 2026.

“Beyond the end of September 2026 period, the DWS will further review the abstraction licence and decide whether to extend the 1 803 000 000 m³/y allocation or revert to the base 1 600 000 000 m³/y allocation, which is a permanent licence.

Of the 5 170 Mℓ/d Rand Water is currently abstracting, which is slightly above its more recent authorised allocation, about 210 Mℓ/d is supplied as raw water to licensed users, including Eskom, ArcelorMittal and other smaller consumers.

The remaining 4 960 Mℓ/d undergoes purification at the organisation’s treatment facilities, with about 3 700 Mℓ/d of potable water purified and pumped from the Zuikerbosch water treatment plant, and an estimated 1 200 Mℓ/d purified and pumped from the Vereeniging water treatment plant.

This yields a combined output of about 4 900 Mℓ/d. Operational losses, such as filter backwashing, account for roughly 60 Mℓ/d.

Overall, the total pumped volumes exceed 5 000 Mℓ/d.

Rand Water further highlighted that two of Gauteng’s three metropolitans, collectively consuming about 77% of Rand Water’s supply, are exceeding the total allocation of the temporary licence by 260 Mℓ/d.

Collectively, the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni are consuming 3 691 Mℓ/d.

City of Johannesburg is exceeding its allocation by 190 Mℓ/d, consuming 1 720 Mℓ/d, while the City of Tshwane exceeds it by 185 Mℓ/d, consuming 936 Mℓ/d.

The City of Ekurhuleni is below the target by 117 Mℓ/d, consuming 1 035 Mℓ/d, the performance of which Rand Water said demonstrates the effectiveness of the city’s water conservation and demand management strategies.