Levels at reservoirs improving, says Johannesburg Water

Water levels at critical reservoirs are improving and the system is recovering, says Johannesburg Water.  

Total reservoir storage capacity, which was 36% last week, improved to 37.5% by Friday. Johannesburg Water's target is 60%.  

Senior operations manager Mzakhe Mtshweni said interventions to bolster supply include closing outlet valves of reservoirs in the evening to build capacity for the morning peak. 

“We are also looking at supplementing the areas [without water] using supply from another zone — that would be water shifting. We will be shifting from one zone to another,” he said. 

Supply to the South Hill Tower by Rand Water's Klipriviersberg reservoir has improved its levels. “It is now 31%, making it possible for us to supply the area with continuous pumping within that zone.” 

Mtshweni said the improvement in the Rand Water system has also allowed the Crown Gardens reservoir to recover in the past week. On Friday morning, the reservoir level was 90%.

Capacity at the Eagle Nest reservoir “has been building from about 5% on Monday to 35% this morning [Friday],” he said.

Johannesburg Water will continue closing valves in the evening to speed up recovery.  

It has also approved construction of a 3.3km, 1m-diameter pipeline from the Commando line to Crosby pump station to address the constrained bulk supply from Rand Water. This was also to safeguard against system collapse.  

Johannesburg Water has 95 reservoirs and 34 water towers. 

Though overall storage is above minimum standards, there are water districts where the storage is below minimum, such as Bryanston, Hurst Hill, Forest Hill, Erand Tower water districts and President Park, it said. 

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