Rand Water communications go dry

While many large areas in Johannesburg continue to battle with dry taps, Rand Water’s communications dried up yesterday after its decision to indefinitely call off a critical major infrastructure project aimed at reducing water shortages.

Johannesburg residents were informed on Thursday that Rand Water had postponed its planned maintenance which would have resulted in a two-day water outage.

Early last week, it was announced that the planned shutdown of water was scheduled to take place from yesterday until tomorrow.

Rand Water said the purpose of the shutdown was to complete a tie-in between the A19 and B14 pipelines, install isolation valves and upgrade systems at its Eikenhof pump station.

“The shutdown was expected to affect some customers, who would have experienced low pressure to no water,” it stated.

“Rand Water reservoirs expected to be affected included Waterval 1 and 2, Weltevreden, Roodepoort Meredale 1 and 2.” The Citizen contacted Rand Water for comment on the postponement but there was no response.

Reduced bulk supply

Meanwhile, Johannesburg Water revealed that a reduced bulk supply from Rand Water would impact various towers and reservoirs. It said due to a major reduction in supply from the bulk supplier, Rand Water, there was a significant reduction in the water supply to various reservoirs and towers, which would affect customers with intermittent or no water supply.

The following areas will be affected by the reduced supply:

• Berea reservoir; v Waterval tower;

• Quellerina tower; v Eagle Nest reservoir;

• Crown Gardens reservoir and tower;

• Hursthill 1 and 2 reservoirs.

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Situation monitored

“We are monitoring the affected systems and will keep you updated on latest feedback. Alternative water supply is being arranged for customers.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and kindly request your understanding and cooperation throughout the duration of the outage,” said Johannesburg Water. It added that there was no water and poor pressure in the Berea reservoir zone. “Currently, the Berea reservoir is critically low to empty.

Water supply is being diverted to the Berea reservoir, while network teams are flushing the network to remove air from the system,” it stated. “Johannesburg Water is monitoring water levels. It may take some time for complete recovery.

“Customers in the reservoir zone may still experience no water or poor pressure. “Alternative water supply through mobile tankers will be provided in the following areas – Bertrams, Bezuidenhout Valley, Malvern, Cyrildene, Bruma and De Wetshof,” it said

ALSO READ: Rand Water postpones planned two-day shutdown