Joburg Water to implement nightly water cuts to ease pressure

Johannesburg Water will start implementing water reduction between 9 pm and 5 am starting next week. This is to alleviate intermittent water pressure and outages experienced in the metro.

Most of Joburg North has been without water this week due to a power trip at Rand Water’s Palmiet Pump Station.

Joburg Water says restoration is taking place with the Midrand area being prioritised.

Reservoir levels in Johannesburg are currently sitting at 40% which is still inadequate.

Johannesburg Water’s Mzakhe Mtshweni says water reductions will start where there’s high water usage.

“Those areas will be implementing water reduction from 9:00 in the evening until 5:00 in the morning. This will be done on a scheduled base. A schedule will be publicized, it will be shared with the customers and it will be shared with the media houses so that it’s known that your area is between 9:00 and 5:00. On this day, it will be receiving reduced supply, so this will assist us in building the reserves, but at the same time it will assist us in reducing the losses,” explains Mtshweni.

Cut illegal connections

Johannesburg Water says it will be disconnecting illegal water connections next week. The entity says these are putting pressure on the system.

Mtshweni says they will begin the disconnections in nine informal settlements mostly in Lenasia, Ennerdale and Orange Farm as well as business and residential estates.

“The illegal connection. It’s not only going to focus on informal settlements, but I also just need to make that clear. We’ve got businesses, we’ve got institutions. We’ve got three states which are on the list where they owe the city millions and millions of rands in terms of water consumption. And those will be some of those that we will be disconnecting. We are doing something about this situation.”