Ekurhuleni urges residents to use water sparingly
Water demand outweighs supply, causing water disruptions across the City. Please use water sparingly.
As it will soon be summer, Rand Water and the City of Ekurhuleni are noticing increasing water consumption from customer meters in the Mapleton System. This increase is putting a strain on the system.
As a result, Rand Water is unable to maintain its reservoirs at high water levels even though all of its primary and secondary stations are operating at their maximum capacity.
This notwithstanding, reservoir levels remain at their lowest due to high consumption by consumers. Accordingly, some parts of the City of Ekurhuleni are experiencing water supply shortages.
The City of Ekurhuleni will communicate the full list of affected areas to its customers. Rand Water and the City of Ekurhuleni have put measures in place to ensure water supply to the affected areas.
The measures include the following:
• Bronberge Reservoir was closed on September 14 to assist Brakpan and Vlakfontein reservoirs. This assistance helped to increase water levels.
• Vlakfontein Reservoir No. 3 will be commissioned today (September 15) to be able to dedicate Mapleton pumping to Brakpan and Mapleton reservoirs.
• A cross connection from Benoni supply was opened on the evening of September 14 to boost Brakpan system.
Due to the system being integrated, even customers that are using water sparingly are being affected. High water consumption may result in the collapse of the system, which will result in intermittent water supply.
Rand Water and the City of Ekurhuleni urge customers to conserve water including implementing the following water-saving tips:
• Avoid watering gardens.
• All public facilities such as airports and filling stations are urged to reduce flow and the number of taps used.
• Do not clean paved areas and driveways with clean drinking water.
• Wash your cars only on weekends using buckets.
• Take a two-minute shower instead of using bathtubs.
• Do not leave your tap running when brushing your teeth.
• Refrain from filling up swimming pools until consumption has reduced.
• Fix all leaking plumbing features in your houses.
• Flush toilets only for the brown and not the yellow.
• Report leaking water pipes to your respective municipalities.
Rand Water and the City of Ekurhuleni commit to the constant provision of high-quality drinking water to all its customers and citizens thus ensuring the sustainable security of water supply.
Citizens and all other consumers are requested to assist in this endeavour and use water sparingly and wisely.
It takes a few days for the system to fully recover. Therefore, some citizens may start noticing changes in their water pressure in the following few days.
