Eskom power failure affects Rand Water supply
Taps run dry due to outage at booster station.
Brakpan, Springs and other areas suffered water interruptions yesterday (February 15) due to a total power supply failure at Rand Water’s Mapleton Booster Station.
The Brakpan Herald understands that water has been restored to some areas, while others are still experiencing issues.
Electricity is supplied to the booster station from an Ekurhuleni substation fed from the Eskom grid.
Ekurhuleni technicians checked their system and no faults were found. According to Rand Water, the fault is on Eskom’s side and Eskom technicians are attending to the fault.
It is believed the fault was due to theft on the main supply circuit.
There is no estimated restoration time.
This incident has resulted in a decline of Rand Water’s reservoirs namely Brakpan, Vlakfontein and Bronberge, Selcourt, Stompies and Wildebeestfontein.
Should the restoration of power be prolonged, this may result in Rand Water’s reservoirs further declining to very low levels.
Other affected areas include Tsakani, Daveyton, Benoni Agricultural Holdings and areas outside of Ekurhuleni.
According to Ward 97 Clr Brandon Pretorius, feedback he received from technicians this morning (February 16) indicated the Sallies Reservoir is almost empty.
There was no feedback given on the deployment of water tankers to affected areas.
