Vaalkop Dam water levels improve following recent rainfall

The recent heavy rainfall in the North West province and some parts of the country, has prompted Magalies Water to revise its earlier restriction of a 30% reduction of its abstraction operations of the raw water from the Vaalkop Dam to 15%.This as recent data from the dam, which is situated at the Mogwase Local Municipality, indicates significant improvements in the raw water dam levels. “This is as a result of heavy downpours which were recorded in late December 2024 and early January 2025, as predicted by the South African Weather Services. Although current raw water dam levels have not enabled us to fully optimize operations at Vaalkop Water Treatment Plant, the recent torrential rains have resulted in a surge of over 45% of the dam levels,” said the entity spokesperson, David Magae. Last month, Magalies Water issued a media statement, in respect of eminent water supply interruptions in the Vaalkop Supply Scheme due to critically low raw water dam levels.This led to a reduction of abstraction affecting major parts of Bojanala in the North West and Waterberg Districts in Limpopo.According to Magae, the deteriorating raw water in the catchment and at the Vaalkop Dam, has the potential to limit the amount of water treated and dispensed to bulk consumers.“The scheme continues to contend with poor raw water quality which inadvertently affects Magalies Water’s ability to effectively and efficiently treat and dispense anticipated bulk water volumes to consumers for consumption. This also plays a pivotal role in the output of quantities of potable water to consumers,” explained Magae. Magalies Water cautioned its bulk consumers to continue using water sparingly as the demand for potable water remains high.