City implements new contingency measures to safeguard services
Johannesburg Water appeals to all residents of the City of Johannesburg to use water sparingly during the shutdown to avoid a complete no-water situation and reminds all customers that level-1 water restrictions are still in place.
The City of Joburg (CoJ) has implemented new interventions to ensure that Johannesburg is the municipality that is least affected by planned major water maintenance to be conducted by Rand Water, which is the main bulk water supplier.
Councillor Nico de Jager, member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for environment and infrastructure services, said in a statement on June 21 that the new action-steps were taken by the entity to limit any negative impact on service delivery.
He said Johannesburg Water has taken note of concerns raised regarding the upcoming planned maintenance by Rand Water which will be conducted on some of their main lines.
Residents have raised concerns as to the impact of the planned maintenance on water supply within the City, given that supply to some of the City’s reservoirs and towers made become limited over the 54-hour maintenance period.
“However, I wish to assure residents that our team has put sufficient measures in place to make sure Johannesburg residents are least affected of all during this maintenance period,” said de Jager.
“During the maintenance period, the Rand Water purification plant will still be operational and will supply water to our water supply systems for the duration of the valve installation so as to help in efforts to replenish our reservoirs.”
According to de Jager, Rand Water will also supply water via the Palmiet and Eikenhof pump stations to Johannesburg Water reservoirs. Furthermore, Rand Water will ensure that before the commencement of the shutdown, all reservoirs supplying the City will be filled to ensure water supply during the shutdown period.
“Our reservoirs have the capacity to supply water for up to two days.
“This said, due to the extremely long hours involved in the maintenance process, some of the high lying areas may experience erratic low pressure,” said de Jager.
The City does not anticipate any unusual water supply disruptions during the shutdown. However, Johannesburg Water will continuously update residents on the progress of the work via all media platforms.
This complies with the National Water Act No. 36 of 1998, which stipulates that the Water Services Authority (CoJ) must issue a notice of potential water interruptions to all its consumers well ahead of the event taking place.
Johannesburg Water appeals to all residents of the City of Johannesburg to use water sparingly during the shutdown to avoid a complete no-water situation and reminds all customers that level-1 water restrictions are still in place.
“I wish to reiterate that Johannesburg Water is in consultation with Rand Water to ensure that the planned maintenance has minimal impact on our residents,” said de Jager.
