Water restoration uncertain

On Monday, at a press conference held at Rand Water’s Central Depot in Alberton, the head of the metro’s water and sanitation department Mr Phil Mashoko, attempted to get a definitive answer from Rand Water to the question on everyone’s mind:

When will the water be restored?

The answer was that there is no way to say when the water will be restored.

The answer hangs on how quickly the affected reservoirs can be filled.

This task is made increasingly difficult by the continued demand for water.

The NEWS questioned why the process of filling a reservoir would take so long, and were told that the problem came in with consumers continuing to use water.

“When the output is almost as high as the input, it becomes increasingly difficult to fill the reservoirs,” said the managing director of Joburg Water, Lungile Dlamini.

It is reported that water has been restored to a number of affected areas already.

“As the metro, we are trying our best to manage the on-going crisis,” said Mashoko.

“Our plan forward is to balance the water distribution throughout the metro to try and avoid any one suburb being left without water.

“The metro’s mayor will also be visiting both Brakpan and Germiston to address residents.”