GAUTENG SYSTEM FAILURE
Johannesburg Water calls emergency meeting as levels shift from critically low to empty
Several parts of Johannesburg are without water after Rand Water’s load shift crashed Johannesburg Water’s Commando system.
“Due to Rand Water’s uninterrupted load shifting from Eikenhof to recover the Palmiet system, Johannesburg Water’s Commando system levels have worsened from critically low to empty,” said Johannesburg Water in a statement on Sunday morning.
Residents in the Hursthill reservoirs zone will have no water, according to the statement.
The deepening water supply crisis in the province has prompted an “emergency meeting”, which is expected to be held with the Department of Water and Sanitation on Monday, 17 October to devise a firm course of action to bring about sustainable solutions to Gauteng’s water supply challenges.
Rand Water’s load shift crashes Johannesburg Water’s Commando System. #JoburgUpdates.^PM pic.twitter.com/4ISKDiWpHD
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) October 16, 2022
Parts of Gauteng are wrestling with Level 2 water restrictions which were initially implemented due to power failures at Rand Water’s wastewater treatment plant in Vereeniging, which affected water systems and reservoirs.
Water authorities have urged residents to reduce water usage to replenish the reservoirs after demand soared due to the heat wave in Johannesburg and rolling blackouts.
“Reducing demand remains a key priority,” said Johannesburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli.
The affected areas include:
- Montgomery Park
- Westbury
- Hursthill
- Greymont
- Coronationville
- Newlands
- Northcliff
- Newclare
- Auckland Park
- Albertville
- Melville
- Richmond
- Parkview
- Emmarentia
- Greenside.
“Alternate water supply is being provided to other affected areas through stationary water tanks and mobile tankers,” read the statement.
Joburg Water reiterated calls to residents to report any leaks or pipe bursts in the affected areas, which may affect the system’s recovery.
In the statement, Mopeli said the Helen Joseph Hospital in Auckland Park and Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital in Coronationville had adequate water supply.
Both Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals have water tankers. Helen Joseph Hospital has experienced dips in water pressure, but no cut-off of supply — which is in part thanks to the borehole that Gift of the Givers drilled last year for the hospital when it was facing water shortages.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Images reveal how water shedding brings disease and indignity to two major Johannesburg hospitals”
UPDATE: In response to queries from Daily Maverick on Sunday evening, Johannesburg Water communications officer Nondumiso Mabuza said: “The status currently is that the Crown Gardens reservoir, [in the south of Johannesburg], will remain closed [at] 50% to assist building capacity to the current system and low water to no water expected.”
Mabuza said that the areas covered by the Commando system are:
- Westbury
- Melville
- Brixton
- Crosby
- Coronationville
- Montclare
- Janhofmeyer
- Vrededorp
- Newclare
- Westdene
- Sophiatown
- Auckland Park
- Greymont
- Richmond
- Northcliff
- Albertville
- Parkview
- Emmarentia
- Greenside
- Newlands
- Hursthill
- Montgomery Park
Mabuza was unable to provide details on interventions to restore water to the affected areas at the time of publication. DM
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Viva, ANC, Viva! Well done, you clowns.
Rand Water was always considered the best water supply system in the country but now after decades of neglect and just adding new users without reviewing the system and servicing/replacing pump systems; building more reservoirs; we are heading towards another Eskom
They claim to know the amount of people in Gauteng but the latest census was a joke – lots of people were not counted
The dams are nearly full despite no rain received as yet and no reason exists for water restrictions and worse no water available at all
People can not exist without water it is the most important service that must be supplied with no possible apologies and no room for errors and collapses
How would one report leaking pipes or pipe bursts if there’s no water. Is there perhaps a hissing sound of air and some dry dust spouts.
Extraordinary that in a water crisis, water shooting out of a burst pipe will be dealt with ‘within 24 hours’ by City of Johanbesburg: no sense of urgency at all as a million litres run down the drain.