Rand Water to extract extra water to stabilise Gauteng water crisis

Gauteng’s water municipal distribution systems have been gradually recovering but, in some areas, reservoir levels are struggling to recover, water minister Pemmy Majodina says.

To accelerate the recovery of reservoir levels, she has agreed bulk supplier Rand Water can extract extra water from the integrated Vaal River system for four months, until June.

The problem started between January 27 and February 1 when electro-mechanical failures occurred at Rand Water’s Palmiet and Zuikerbosch pump stations, and a huge pipe burst at the Rand Water Klipfontein reservoir. The disruptions caused a severe drop in the supply of treated water by Rand Water to the three Gauteng municipalities.

Rand Water repaired the equipment failures “rapidly” and had, by February 4, returned to its full normal supply of 5,000 million litres of treated water per day water to Gauteng municipalities, the minister said.

The eight-day reduced supply of treated water, however, resulted in the depletion of many municipal storage reservoirs in Gauteng. This saw no water supplied in many suburbs, particularly those in high-lying areas.

The situation was exacerbated by a heat wave since early February as there was increased consumption in areas which were receiving water, further delaying the recovery of municipal distribution systems.

Rand Water has been granted an increase of 200 million cubic metres per annum on its current allocation of 1,803 million m³/a, which will be in effect between February to June.

Majodina said the approval of the additional abstraction license is a temporary measure to assist municipal reservoir levels to recover.

She told municipalities it is imperative for their managers to implement improved water supply management.

The municipalities must ring-fence revenue from the sale of water and use the funds to reduce non-revenue water and upgrade their distribution infrastructure, she instructed. “They should also be entering into partnerships with the private sector to mobilise private sector funding for water infrastructure.”

Other key tasks for the metros include:

Accelerated fixing of leaks, including the replacement of old leaking pipes.
Removal of illegal connections.
Acceleration of municipal water and sanitation capital works programmes, particularly the construction of additional reservoir storage capacity and pumping capacity.

Residents must prepare themselves for these measures:

Load-shifting, or moving water volumes between stable and critical systems to balance the system. This results in reduced pressure in stable areas, but does not result in supply disruptions in stable areas.
Controlled throttling (managing reservoir outlets to build storage levels overnight).
Approval of level 2 water use restrictions by the municipal council, and enforcement of the restrictions, particularly in high-use areas.

Majodina said government wanted municipalities to in-source water carting or tankering.

DA MP Stephen Moore, who had lobbied for extra water abstraction for Rand Water to deal with dry taps, welcomed the announcement.

“After weeks of no water this will assist residents, particularly in high-lying areas, end-of-line suburbs and residents reliant on damaged reservoirs. However, additional abstraction is not a solution on its own. It is a short-term stabiliser.

The hard truth is that municipal failure created the conditions for crisis and will create the next crisis too, unless it is confronted decisively
— DA MP Stephen Moore,

“The hard truth is that municipal failure created the conditions for crisis and will create the next crisis too, unless it is confronted decisively.

“Gauteng’s municipalities, especially Johannesburg and Tshwane, have failed in their core duties: maintaining pipes, preventing and repairing leaks, managing pressure, protecting infrastructure and ensuring credible water demand management. Non-revenue water, burst pipes, poor maintenance and weak operational control have turned treatable challenges into repeated emergencies.

“Until the municipal failures are fixed, Gauteng will face more crises, more frequently and with greater severity. The province cannot survive a future where basic services collapse in cycles.”

Moore said the municipal turnaround required measurable targets and consequence management for failures.