‘Reservoirs still low’ after completion of pipeline repairs, says Rand Water

Rand Water says there is still low pressure on water reservoirs in parts of Johannesburg and surroundings on Thursday following the completion of the planned maintenance work of the B11 and B19 pipelines this week.

This was announced in a statement released on Thursday.

“Several of Rand Water reservoirs are currently very low due to recent completed maintenance programme and will take time to recover,” reads the statement.

The water supplier said that reservoirs in its network are critically low in Meredale and Forest Hill reservoirs.

“These low levels are currently having an impact on several municipal reservoirs within the Johannesburg water network.”

It said that full pumping supply of these reservoirs had been restored and that it would continue providing updates every two hours on the developments.

ALSO READ: Rand Water successfully completes tie-in of B11 and B19 pipelines

Rand Water last week announced its planned shut down of the B11 and B19 pipelines from 15 to 17 November.

“The shutdown formed part of… B19 Pipeline Augmentation Project and is the final leg of this program that will increase the volumes of the B19 pipeline and therefore ensure sustainable supply of water to the consumers,” said Rand Water at the time.

According to the utility, the B19 pipeline had limited usage as it was only fully connected to the B5 pipeline before the tie-in, and is now integrated to the B5, B11 and B19 pipelines.

“We undertook an extensive maintenance process where they were tying one of the biggest pipe 2-metre diameter pipe called B19 into B11. It’s an augmentation programme that started way back in 2019,” said Sipho Mosai, CEO, in a media briefing on Wednesday.

Following a successful maintenance the following reservoirs and towers are affected:

• South Hills Tower
• Forest Hill Tower
• Crown Gardens
• Eagles Nest
• Naturena
• Allenmanor
• Crosby
• Brixton
• Hurst Hill
• Waterval Tower
• Linden Tower
• Quelerina Tower
• Florida North Tower
• Constantia Tower

Residents have since been requested to be patient and use water sparingly.