The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Police has warned residents and businesses to comply with the current water restrictions in the drought-stricken metro or face the full might of the law.
Municipal Spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki says in the past month the metro police identified areas of concern, especially Summerstrand, where residents are drilling their boreholes without the necessary permission.
He says drilling holes without permission is illegal and could result in a fine of R5 000.
Mniki says residents are prohibited from using municipal water for filling swimming pools, irrigation of gardens, washing cars, building roofs and paving using municipal drinking water.
He says Building sites, more especially for residential building projects have also been identified as some of the culprits of using Municipal drinking water for building purposes.
Car washes, which are required to use recycled or harvested water, showed some improvements, however, concern remains over non-compliance in areas like Sidwell.
The Metro's current water consumption is more than 280 million litres, which is way too high as the required consumption as per the Department of Water and Sanitation directive should be 230 million litres per day.
The Metro Police will intensify its operations to enforce compliance.
