Water outage: Rand Water says maintenance going well

Johannesburg Water has warned residents, especially those in high-lying areas, it may take up to 14 days for systems to fully recover.

15 December 2024 - 15:56
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Stock photo.
Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/CHAYAPON BOOTBOONNEAM

With taps dry in certain parts of Johannesburg due to Rand Water's maintenance work at some of its pump stations, Johannesburg Water has warned residents, especially those in high-lying areas, that systems may take between five and 14 days to fully recover.

Rand Water said it is making progress and expects to complete the maintenance project as scheduled.

On Friday, Rand Water started with maintenance work at the Eikenhof and Zwartkoppies pump stations, with maintenance at the latter being completed and running at 100%.

In a statement, Rand Water said the maintenance is meant to correct the historical defects and also to enhance the flexibility and availability of the Eikenhof engine rooms and work is expected to be completed on Monday. 

Zwartkoppies supplies Johannesburg Water systems that include, Parktown, Berea, Forest Hill, Naturena as well as the Hector Norris pump station which supplies the Johannesburg CBD. 

The Eikenhof pump station, which is still undergoing maintenance, feeds systems that include Soweto, Randburg and Roodepoort, Commando (Brixton, Crosby, and Hursthill), Lenasia and parts of Johannesburg central, including Eagles Nest, Crown Gardens, Aeroton and Alan Manor reservoirs.

Rand Water said the maintenance is meant to correct the historical design of the engine rooms at Eikenhof.

“Eikenhof has three engine rooms that were designed to be interrelated. When these were designed many years ago the design was fit for purpose for that era because Eikenhof was supplying water to limited customers,” Rand Water said in a statement.

With the increasing demand, it said there is a need to make the engine rooms independent to enhance their flexibility and availability. 

Rand Water said it scheduled this maintenance for December when schools, many industries and businesses are closed as the water consumption is manageable.

“Manageable consumption impacts positively on the recovery and stability of the system. We have been working closely with our affected customers, and we can report that they have put contingency measures in place and have been providing alternative water supply in areas where the supply is/was affected,” it said.

Johannesburg Water said emergency approval was granted on Saturday for deploying additional roaming tankers to affected areas. It said hospitals, clinics and old age homes continue to be prioritised by ensuring stationary water tankers are placed in these critical areas. 

TimesLIVE


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