Rand Water postpones planned two-day shutdown

Residents of Johannesburg can rest easy this week, as Rand Water has postponed planned maintenance that would have resulted in a two-day water outage.

Planned maintenance

Last week, Johannesburg Water announced that a planned shutdown of water supply would take place from 7pm on Tuesday, 20 June, until 3pm on Thursday, 22 June.

ALSO READ: Dry Jozi: Planned water cuts raise concerns over future supply

The shutdown was necessary to complete a tie-in between the A19 and B14 pipelines, install isolation valves, and upgrade systems at Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station. The shutdown was expected to affect some customers, who would have experienced low pressure to no water.

The following Rand Water reservoirs were expected to be affected:

• Waterval 1 and 2
• Weltevreden
• Roodepoort
• Meredale 1 and 2

However, at the weekend the entity said the planned shutdown has been postponed until further notice.

“Further updates on the new dates and times will be provided to residents,” said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.

Eikenhof pump station

Earlier this month, a pump failure at City Power’s Orlando Power Station caused a power outage that affected Johannesburg Water’s infrastructure and Rand Water’s Eikenhof pump station. This left several areas, including Randburg and Roodepoort, without water.

City Power’s initial investigations point to theft and vandalism as the cause of the power failure.

NOW READ: Joburg Water systems ‘gradually recovering’ after power outage