Long water shutdown looms over Joburg: Here are the affected areas

Johannesburg residents have been warned to store water due to an upcoming “extensive maintenance”.

Rand Water recently announced a month and week-long maintenance process which will begin on Saturday.

The infrastructure maintenance will affect the water supply to Joburg Water’s systems pumped by Palmiet, Eikenhof and Daleside Booster stations.

Joburg scheduled water outages

The planned maintenance by Rand Water will affect the water supply in Johannesburg from 22 June to 29 July 2024.

According to Rand Water, the maintenance aims to improve the reliability and efficiency of water infrastructure.

The utility service reiterated that the maintenance project will be carried over on different dates in
different areas.

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“This kind of preventative maintenance is imperative to make Rand Water’s systems more efficient and reliable for their customers, such as Johannesburg Water. During this time, Johannesburg Water customers will be impacted by low pressure to no water supply,” the utility’s statement read.

However, to mitigate the impact, Joburg Water said it will arrange alternative water supply for vital facilities like hospitals, schools, and shopping centres.

Furthermore, it encouraged consumers to store water ahead of the maintenance.

Affected pump stations and areas

The affected areas include Sandton, Midrand, South Hills Tower, Alexandra Park, Randjeslaagte, and Linksfield reservoirs. Residents can expect low pressure to no water supply during this period.

The maintenance will reduce pumping at Rand Water’s Palmiet Pump Station, which supplies several Johannesburg Water systems.

Palmiet

• 60% pumping for eight hours on 1 July
• Pumping will decrease to 68% for 50 hours on 15 July
• Pumping will decrease to 76% for 40 hours on 29 July

Eikenhof

• Water will be pumped at 50% for eight hours and 67% for the remaining 64 hours on 24-27 June.
• Further pumping will be at 83% for 15 days, starting from 26 June to 13 July.

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Zwartkopjes

• Pumping at Rand Water Zwartkopjes Pump station, which feeds Johannesburg Water’s Daleside Booster Station, will be reduced to 50% on 24 June.

Mapleton

• Mapleton System upkeep commences, with water supply reduced to 73% for 24 hours on 5 July. Bloemendal will experience a total shutdown for 40 hours.
• Water distribution operations will continue uninterrupted on 19 July. However, two meters in the City of Ekurhuleni and three meters in the City of Tshwane will be impacted for 39 hours.
• A complete outage is scheduled for 77 hours, with no water distribution taking place on 26 July.

Residents are advised to take necessary precautions and store water in advance to minimize inconvenience.