Joburg braces for another water maintenance shutdown — what you need to know

This Friday, the second round of Rand Water and Eskom maintenance will take place, and residents need to prepare, given that the last maintenance operations resulted in no water for several weeks in communities across the city.

Joburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero said the second phase of Rand Water’s maintenance would take place on Friday (17 July) for 12 hours, from 7am to 7pm.

“This final phase is essential preventative work on the bulk infrastructure that supplies Johannesburg and surrounding municipalities. Because it affects major bulk systems, a number of Johannesburg Water reservoirs and towers will receive reduced inflows during this period, and customers in the affected areas may experience low water pressure or no water at all,” Morero said.

The systems affected include Sandton, Midrand, Linksfield, Crown Gardens, South Hills, Parktown, Berea, Yeoville, the Commando system serving Brixton, Crosby and Hursthill, as well as Randburg, Roodepoort, Soweto, Lenasia, Alan Manor, Aeroton and Eagles Nest.

Pumping will be affected in the following ways:

• The Palmiet system, which serves the larger Sandton, South Hills, Midrand and Alexander Park reservoir areas, will have reduced pumping for the 12 hours at 78% of normal pumping. More than 150 areas will be affected by the reduced pumping.
• For the Eikenhof system, serving Soweto, Randburg, Roodepoort and the Commando system area, pumping will be reduced to 50% for the 12 hours. More than 190 areas will be affected by this.
• The Zwartkopjes system will be pumping at 50% during the 12-hour work period. Affected areas include the Berea, Hector Norris, Aeroton, Forest Hill, Eagles Nest, Crown Gardens, Yeoville and Kibler Park reservoirs and towers.

While this maintenance period is significantly shorter than the last one, the previous operations left large areas of the city without water for more than 14 days. On 29 May, pumping to the Eikenhof station was reduced to 91% for 12 hours and then fully reinstated to a 100% pumping volume. Large parts of the Commando system – Parktown West, Brixton, Melville, Mayfair, Westbury and Coronationville – had no water for an extended period.

The Commando system, well known for its fragility, has since not reached even 50% capacity.

Johannesburg Water, which came under heavy criticism for not adequately explaining the delay in recovery, said this week’s maintenance period would be significantly shorter, and therefore the impact on the city’s water system would be “less severe”.

Spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said Johannesburg Water had incorporated lessons from the previous maintenance by refining its operational plans, improving the balancing of the system and strengthening coordination with Rand Water.

“While some areas may still experience interruptions and recovery times will vary, particularly in high-lying areas, we are better prepared to manage the system and support a quicker recovery,” she said.

“We recognise and acknowledge that the Commando system is particularly sensitive and can take longer to recover due to its complexity. Our operational teams will closely monitor the system throughout the maintenance and recovery period and respond to any challenges as they arise to support the quickest possible recovery.”

She said Johannesburg Water had been issuing reminder notices ahead of the maintenance and would be engaging directly with affected ward councillors to ensure they had the latest information for their communities.

“Throughout the maintenance and recovery period, we will continue providing regular updates across all our communication platforms and stakeholder channels to keep residents informed of progress and any developments,” she said.

Morero assured residents that reservoir storage was being maximised before the work began. He said reservoir and tower levels would be monitored continuously throughout, and water tankers would be deployed where required, with hospitals, clinics, and other critical facilities prioritised. DM

Be prepared: Johannesburg Water has advised residents to:

• Store enough water for essential household use.
• Use water, if there is any, sparingly. Avoid washing cars or filling pools as this takes water out of the system.

This story was produced by Our City News, a non-profit newsroom that serves the people of Johannesburg.