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Water supply woes hit Joburg as suburbs struggle without water: Power failures and pump difficulties to blame
Residents of Johannesburg are facing an ongoing water crisis as power failures, and pump difficulties continue to disrupt the city’s water supply according to Sowetan Live.
The latest incident occurred on Monday when a power failure at Rand Water’s purification works treatment plant in Vereeniging severely impacted the pumping capacity at the bulk supplier’s Eikenhof pump station.
The situation persisted for several hours, leading to supply disruptions for several of Johannesburg Water’s systems, including the Commando system that feeds the Brixton, Hursthill, and Crosby reservoirs, as well as Waterval, Quellerina, Eagles Nest, and Crown Gardens.
Also read: Load Shedding is to Blame for Joburg’s Water Shortages
In addition, Rand Water’s Meredale reservoirs and Johannesburg Water’s Waterval 2 reservoir were left empty, exacerbating the water supply challenges. While pumping has since been restored to 100% at the Eikenhof station, the system is still struggling to fill the reservoirs.
The Crown Gardens reservoir in Johannesburg South has been opened to 50% capacity, allowing Johannesburg Water to sustain pumping into the tower to supply water. Meanwhile, the Eagles Nest reservoir has been put on bypass to redirect excess water into reticulation, to sustain supply.
According to Nolwazi Dhlamini, spokesperson for Johannesburg Water, Rand Water has closed the inlet into the Weltevreden reservoir to push excess water into the Waterval reservoir, which will feed into the Quellerina and Waterval towers, as well as the Commando system. Dhlamini estimates that the Quellerina and Waterval zones will have recovered by late evening on Monday while acknowledging that the Commando system has been the most affected and that full recovery could take up to five to seven days if no other issues affect the system.
The technical team at Joburg Water is working around the clock to improve supply and is exploring interventions to improve the recovery of the Hursthill 1 system with a neighbouring reservoir system. In the meantime, alternative water supply to critical areas has been provided through a fleet of stationary and roaming water tankers stationed in various parts of the city, including Crosby, Brixton, Coronationville, Westdene, and Melville. However, the situation remains challenging, and residents are being urged to use water sparingly and report any issues to the relevant authorities.
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