24-hour water shutdown in Joburg: These areas will be affected

Johannesburg Water has announced a Rand Water shutdown scheduled to take place from Friday, 3 June, due to the installation of a new non-return valve on pumpset 20 at the Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant and to tie in the newly installed F46 pipeline to the existing F34 pipeline.

The water supply to the Eikenhof Booster Station will be reduced by 50% and this will affect several areas in Johannesburg Water area of supply.

The duration of the shutdown will be for 24 hours, starting at 5am on Friday to Saturday at 5am. It will take approximately 3-5 days for the system to adequately recover after supply has been fully restored.

MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Department Michael Sun said the shutdown was vital to ensure the long term sustainability of water supply in the city.

“Life can become unbearable without an uninterrupted water supply, but this work is critical, and we are at the mercy of Rand Water which supplies our own municipal entity Joburg Water,” said Sun.

The following Rand Water Reservoirs will be affected:

Waterval 1& 2, Weltevreden and Roodepoort

The following Rand Water meters will be affected:

Corriemoor, Cornelius Street, Weltevreden High Pressure, Weltevreden high pressure bypass, Honedew reservoir No 1 and Commando Road.

Areas that will be affected during the outage:

• Amalgam
• Albertville
• Albertskroon
• Aldara Park
• Auckland Park & extensions
• Berario
• Bergbron
• Braamfontein
• Blackheath
• Brixton
• Blairgowrie
• Bosmont
• Burgersdorp
• Constantia Kloof
• Cottesloe
• Cresta & extensions
• Crown City
• Crown & extensions
• De La Rey
• East Town
• Eldorado Estate
• Florida Glen
• Fountainbleau
• Greymont
• Hursthill
• Industria & extensions
• Jan Hofmeyr
• Langlaagte North
• Laser Park
• Linden & extensions
• Little Falls
• Martindale
• Mayfair
• Melville & extensions
• Montclare
• Montreaux
• Moret
• Nancefield
• Newlands
• Northcliff & extensions
• Olivenhout
• Parktown
• Parkview
• Pine Park
• Quellerina
• Radiokop
• Randburg
• Randpark Ridge
• Robindale
• Risidale
• Riverlea
• Roodepoort
• Ruimsig
• Ruitenhof
• Strubens Valley
• Selby
• Triomf
• Victory Park
• Vredepark
• Westbury
• Westdene
• Weltevreden Park
• Wilgeheuwel
• Windsor
• Zandspruit
  

In preparation for the operation Joburg has ensured all reservoirs affected are filled to the very top levels before supply is cut, lessening the overall impact on water services, said Joburg Water.

Joburg water will also dispatch water tankers to every single affected area for the duration of the outage.

“We appeal to everyone for their patience. This maintenance needs to happen to guarantee Johannesburg has regular and reliable water supply in medium to long term,” Sun said.

“We will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure work is carried out as fast as possible to return services to affected residents.”

Johannesburg Water has also announced a planned Rand Water shutdown to cross connect the newly constructed H39 pipeline to the existing H12 pipeline at Randjesfontein. The shutdown is planned for 3 to 4 June 2022.

The duration of the shutdown will be 39.5 hours, starting from 7am on Friday to 10pm on Saturday. The system is expected to recover within 2 to 3 days after the H12 pipeline is re-commissioned.

This will affect the Johannesburg Water’s Randjesfontein reservoir, which supplies Randjesfontein and Randjespark Estate extension 1.