A quarter of Joburg water infrastructure has less than 10-year lifespan left

About 25% of Joburg Water’s infrastructure has less than 10 years of useful life left.

This was revealed by the MMC for environment and infrastructure services Nico de Jager in his state of infrastructure report presented in Braamfontein on Tuesday.

De Jager said critical assets of Joburg water that need replacement or renewal are projected at R12.65-billion over the next 10 years. This translates to R1.265-billion per year over the next decade.

“An additional R500-million is required annually to deal with infrastructure upgrade and expansion backlog‚” said De Jager.

He said the city needs R861-million for water mains replacement and R1.9-billion for sewer pipe replacement.

To upgrade water and sewer capacity the city is facing a funding backlog of R2.8-billion.

The total network backlog stands at R5.6-billion‚ De Jager said.