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Rand Water’s Roodepoort pumping station.
Joburg Water says although Rand Water has completed its planned maintenance work, several areas across Johannesburg are still experiencing a slow recovery in water supply.
Briefing the media in Newtown, officials say supply systems have been reconfigured to accelerate the replenishment of reservoirs fed by the Commando and Eikenhof systems, which remain under significant pressure.
The utility has also cautioned residents to prepare for another round of planned infrastructure maintenance scheduled to commence on the 17th of July.
Reservoir levels across parts of Johannesburg remain below the desired operating threshold following Rand Water’s large-scale maintenance programme, which ran from the 29th of May to the 2nd of June. While water levels are gradually improving, several reservoirs and water towers have yet to recover fully. Joburg Water says strategic interventions, including the reconfiguration of supply networks, have helped accelerate the recovery process and improve water distribution to affected communities.
“We have seen the system improving from the lowest that we witnessed during maintenance which was 42 percent storage overall to the 49 percent that we have this morning. I must indicate that 49 percent doesn’t mean the system is stable. We want to operate the system at 60 percent plus,” says Ntshavheni Mukwevho, Rand Water MD.
Officials have urged residents to prepare for the second phase of maintenance work scheduled to begin on the 17th of July. The work forms part of ongoing efforts to improve the reliability and sustainability of the region’s bulk water infrastructure.
The Commando system, which supplies areas including Crosby, Brixton and Hursthill, remains one of the most affected networks, with reservoir levels recovering slower than anticipated. However, Joburg Water says current projections indicate that most systems should return to acceptable operating levels by the weekend.
“The maintenance interventions went according to plan. It is mainly owing to the proper planning from both the rand water side as well as Johannesburg water and the various affected municipalities. As we know, a lot of communication and mitigation plans in the form of water tankering were also mobilised and implemented quite efficiently, which aided the system in recovering much sooner than we initially anticipated. Of importance to note is that the last leg, which is phase two of this particular maintenance exercise, is back at the Suikerbosch plant, where Eskom has to undertake phase two of the electrical maintenance work planned for the 17th of July,” says Logan Munsamy, Senior Manager: Water Demand Management.
Joburg Water has once again appealed to residents and businesses to use water sparingly, warning that excessive consumption could delay the recovery of reservoirs and hamper supply restoration efforts in affected areas.
