A Somerset West man has become the first resident in recorded Helderberg history to install a JoJo tank system visible from space.
Neighbours say the property now resembles a medium-security hydroelectric facility after owner Willem Pretorius added his fourteenth backup water tank “just in case.”
The system reportedly includes pressure pumps emergency filtration underground reserves solar integration rain harvesting and what experts believe may be a small desalination plant.
“I simply like being prepared” Pretorius explained while monitoring water flow statistics from an app linked to satellites. “One never knows.”
Residents first became concerned after hearing industrial machinery operating through the night followed by the arrival of technicians speaking in engineering terminology usually reserved for Eskom briefings.
A nearby Strand resident admitted the setup was “impressive but slightly aggressive.”
“He asked me my daily water usage at a braai” said the traumatised neighbour. “I just wanted another chop.”
Pretorius reportedly gives guided tours of the system to visiting Europeans during swallow season.
The tour includes emergency scenarios backup redundancies and a presentation titled Living Beyond Municipal Dependency.
Engineers from Stellenbosch University are believed to have contacted him for research purposes after noticing pressure readings from Somerset West appearing on regional monitoring systems.
Meanwhile Gordon’s Bay residents remain unconcerned.
“If water goes off we just wait until it comes back” shrugged one harbour local while washing bait off a boat using a garden hose with no nozzle.
Pretorius has already submitted plans for an expansion phase expected to include greywater recycling atmospheric moisture extraction and what municipal officials cautiously described as “unnecessary confidence.”
Be the first to comment