Restricted supply from Rand Water blamed for taps running dry
"Despite several endeavours to implement load shifting from one system to another, we are still not able to salvage the situation."
City of Ekurhuleni blamed Rand Water for Thursday’s widespread water outage.
In response to complaints about water outages in Germiston, Edenvale, Bedfordview, Thembisa and Kempton Park, CoE said the low water pressure to no water was due to restricted supply from Rand Water.
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“Rand Water’s distribution network is currently under severe pressure with water demand consistently exceeding water supply,” said CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini. “
“This resulted in very low levels in some of the critical reservoirs in three of our supply systems being Eikenhof, Palmiet and Mapleton. Despite several endeavours to implement load shifting from one system to another, we are still not able to salvage the situation.
“This has necessitated that we invoke our emergency protocol, with immediate effect, in order to retain the three systems,” Dlamini said on Thursday afternoon.
Water tankers were dispatched and stationary water tanks were placed in areas that do not have any water supply.
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Dlamini said areas affected include Bedfordview, Essexwold, Bedford Gardens, Edenglen, Isandovale, Sebenza, parts of Eastleigh, Elandsfontein, Klopperpark, Harmelia, Isando, Spartan, Terenure, Bonaero Park, Parts of Pomona, Chloorkop, Kempton Park West, Croydon, Esther Park, Van Riebeeck Park, Aston Manor, Nimrod Park, Glen Marais, Bredell, Rhodesfield, Dinwiddie, Norton Small Farms, Albermale, Union extension, Lambton, Delville, Germiston, Driehoek, Delville, Dawnview, Malvern East, Sunnyridge, high-lying areas of Palm Ridge, Palm Ridge Ext 3, Zonkezizwe, Primrose, Wychwood,Gerdview, Elsburg, Castleview, Homestead, Wadeville, Roodekop Ext 31, Hazeldene, Parkhill and Industrial East.
“Technicians from the city are closely monitoring the system and implementing measures to boost the levels in the affected reservoirs. Updates on water tanks and water tanker locations will be communicated via the City of Ekurhuleni’s social media platforms,” said Dlamini.
GCN still awaits official comment from Rand Water despite an urgent request for feedback by 14:00 today.
— CoE_Call_Centre (@CoE_Call_Centre) August 26, 2021
