Joburg Water still battling to keep taps flowing

Reservoirs were critically low in the Randburg and Commando systems at lunchtime on Wednesday with Johannesburg Water attributing this to poor incoming supply.

Water supply only returned to some Randburg suburbs overnight after supply challenges since March 3.

The dry taps came after an electricity outage affected Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station when a City Power transformer was hit by lightning and emergency repairs had to be done to the feeder board.

While many of the Johannesburg Water systems recovered, Randburg did not. It emerged on Tuesday that a sizeable Rand Water valve was closed, restricting supply into the system. 

On Wednesday Johannesburg Water said: “Rand Water will continue with further investigations. Though the opening of the valve assisted with building a bit of capacity into the Linden 1 reservoir and tower, as well as the Linden 2 reservoir, the Kensington B reservoir and tower and Blairgowrie reservoir are still critically low to empty,” it said midmorning.

Technical teams were continuing with the investigation and Johannesburg Water was closely monitoring the systems and would advise on further actions, it said.

By 1.15pm, however, it sounded another alarm, saying most of its systems affected by the Eikenhof pump station were “in the process of gradual recovery”, but “two of the systems are now experiencing a setback”.

“The Randburg systems — Linden 1 and 2, Blairgowrie and Kensington B as well as the Commando system, particularly the Hursthill system, have experienced a setback due to poor incoming water supply. This has resulted in the rapid depreciation of water levels at reservoirs, leaving them critically low, as well as residents having poor pressure to no water.”

To mitigate the situation, Johannesburg Water and Rand Water technical teams “are engaging to understand the reasons behind the poor supply and find solutions”.