Rand Water's maintenance schedule is set to affect water supply and pressure across the greater Johannesburg area. Picture: iStock
As it readies itself to shut down the Eikenhof pumping station as part of its marathon Johannesburg outage from 22 June to 29 July, Rand Water announced that a power trip at its Roodepoort Station on Saturday has affected pumping.
The water utility said that after power was restored, there were multiple issues which resulted in all pumps at the station not functioning.
“Technicians worked overnight to resolve the matter and pumping was restored in the early hours of this morning,” Rand Water’s statement read.
It added that the incident resulted in the depletion of the Roodepoort and Krugersdorp reservoirs which could affect areas supplied by these reservoirs within the City of Johannesburg and Mogale City.
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Rand Water’s maintenance work – which started on Saturday – is set to impact the Eikenhof, Zwartkoppies, Palmiet, and Daleside systems, affecting water supply and pressure across the greater Johannesburg area.
Giving an update on the progress of the utility’s project on Sunday, Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo said everything is going according to plan.
“Proactive infrastructure maintenance is important to preserve the quality and integrity of the infrastructure and to extend the lifespan of our assets..
“The project commenced yesterday in Mogale City and it has been completed well ahead of the schedule. Normal pumping was not affected as only one meter was impacted,” Maroo said.
According to the spokesperson, Rand Water has requested municipalities to advise their customers on extent and impact of water supply in their respective areas.
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Specific stages of the maintenance will see up to 50% reduction for extended periods in certain areas.
The maintenance work will extend beyond the City of Johannesburg, affect various municipalities in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West. It is expected to be completed on 29 July.
Maroo said they have now moved along to the Eikenhof system.
The maintenance of Eikenhof will impact the following areas:
A sedimentation tank clearing will take place at the Vereeniging plant, which will also affect the Eikenhof system. This is planned to last 18 days, with the water pressure expected to sit at 83% from 27 June to 12 July.
Eikenhof’s completion of the new connections in the Waterval 1 and 2 reservoirs will reduce water flow to 50% for eight hours and 67% for the remaining 64 hours.
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