Joburg suburbs without water in days-long outage

Johannesburg Water said on Thursday its systems were slowly recovering after a major outage at Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station, but some suburbs were still without water after nearly week.

The entity said it expected that a complete recovery of the water supply would take several days to a week. Some Johannesburg suburbs still had dry taps on Thursday.

Suburbs across Johannesburg were left without water after the Eikenhof pump station was struck by lightning on Sunday, according to the utility.

City Power repaired the feeder boards on Monday.

The utility said the bulk supplier’s systems were interconnected and flexible to support one another, which assisted in the recovery of all systems. The entity said it would prioritise the prompt isolation and repair of bursts and leaks.

“Customers are requested to repair leaks on their properties as these also contribute to the high demand on Johannesburg Water systems,” the utility said.

“Residents are requested to observe level 1 water restrictions, which are implemented from September 1 to March 31. These prohibit the use of hosepipes to water gardens, wash cars, clean driveways, as well as fill up swimming pools and water features between 6am and 6pm. Instead, the use of greywater is encouraged.”

One of the worst affected areas was Constantia Kloof. Councillor Leah Knott said residents in the ward had not had water for the entire week. “They ran out almost immediately [when there are outages] and they are one of the last areas to get water back.”

On Thursday morning, Constantia Kloof primary school sent a notice to parents to collect their children. “They were getting parents to bring water in the mornings but it was running out by lunchtime.” 

Constantia Kloof’s water tower was still empty on Thursday morning, Knott said.

“We got a tanker allocated but it was in Constantia Kloof for about 10-15 minutes and a lot of people did not manage to get water during that time. It is highly problematic.”

According to the utility on Thursday, the status of the central system supplied by Eikenhof pump station was as follows: 

• Crosby reservoir has improved, but remains low and is supplying water fairly. 
• Brixton reservoir has improved but remains low. Pumping has resumed and the tower is gradually recovering. 
• Hurst Hill 1 and 2 reservoirs are both critically low. Improvement remains low in the system, poor pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone. Hurst Hill 1 is being reconfigured to boost supply.
• Crown Gardens reservoir and towers are critically low, and the reservoir outlet will be throttled to assist in recovery. 
• Eagles Nest reservoir is critically low, supplying fairly well to Alan Manor and Naturena reservoirs. Poor pressure is expected in the supply zone while the system is recovering.
• Aeroton reservoir and tower are supplying water fairly, but poor pressure is still expected.
• Berea reservoir (which is supplied from Zwartkoppies) is still critically low due to high demand and poor supply pressure. 

Randburg and Roodepoort:

• Linden 1 reservoir and tower, Linden 2 reservoir and Blairgowrie reservoir remain critically low and no water is expected in the area yet. Recovery is slow due to high demand and reduced incoming flows as the system is still recovering. This system may take longer to improve due to system configuration.
• The Honeydew reservoir has improved and is supplying fairly, while Olivedale reservoir is still recovering.
• Cosmo City and Boschkop reservoirs have improved and supplying fairly, while Randpark Ridge reservoir is still empty.
• Robertsville reservoir, Fairlands reservoir and Corriemoor reservoir are low but supplying water fairly.
• Kensington B reservoir and tower have improved and supplying fairly.
• Helderkruin reservoir has improved while the tower is critically low. Poor pressure to no water is to be expected in the supply zone.
• Witpoortjie reservoir has improved and is supplying fairly while the tower is critically low so poor pressure and no water could be expected.
• Constantia, Horizon, Waterval and Quellerina towers are critically low, while Florida North tower has slightly improved.
• Waterval tower is still empty.

Sandton system supplied by Palmiet pump station

• Bryanston reservoir is low but improving while pumping has resumed and the tower is improving. 
• Illovo reservoir is critically low and the tower is empty. The reservoir remains throttled to assist in recovery.
• Linbro Park and Morningside reservoirs are critically low. Poor pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone.
• Marlboro reservoir has improved and is supplying fairly including the two direct feeds (Linbro and Marlboro).

Soweto system supplied by Eikenhof

• Chiawelo reservoir, Doornkop West reservoir, Power Park reservoir, Jabulani reservoir and Diepkloof reservoir, Orlando East and Meadowlands have improved and are supplying water fairly well.
• Zondi reservoir and tower, Braamfischer reservoir and Protea Glen reservoir are low but water is flowing.

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