Earlier last week, the City’s bulk water supplier, Rand Water, notified residents of a 30-hour-long water shutdown in order to replace valves on the cross connection of their G23 and Q2 pipelines.
A list of 37 areas which would be affected was released and the shutdown was set to last from 27 to 28 February. However, the project ran over schedule and by Sunday evening, the work had not been completed. The affected areas were still without water this morning, 1 March, and even some areas that were not on the initial list did not have water.
Despite a caucus meeting today, councillors have been attempting to get answers on why the initial areas, and extra ones, did not have water, and it seems that information is slowly being released.
Rand Water has just released a statement saying that the aforementioned shutdown was not successful. According to RW, a faulty main isolating valve at the Eikenhof Pump Station which would not seal properly, prevented the valves from being replaced. “Despite every effort made by our technical team, a dry isolation could still not be achieved to enable the planned work to go ahead,” said RW Media Relations Manager, Justice Mohale.
Unfortunately, this means that another shutdown is most likely on the horizon, but the information on this has not yet been released. “Communication will be issued soon regarding the follow-through on the said shutdown,” continued Mohale’s statement.
Rand Water’s technical team is finalising the recommissioning of the pipelines that were isolated, but it may take a few hours before all the affected households have their full water supply again.
Residents of several areas, including Kloofendal, Little Falls, Weltevreden Park and surrounds, were left confused when they too had no water this morning, yet their areas were not on the list of affected suburbs. According to information received by Ward 85 councillor, Sonja Meyer, reduced pressure from the Rand Water supply meant that the Florida North water tower would be impacted, so areas that are fed water from that tower would experience low pressure. The shutdown was scheduled over the weekend because demand would be less due to businesses being closed, but because the project ran over schedule, the water network was being drained too quickly to keep up with the high demand.
Ward 70 councillor, Caleb Finn, notified residents that he had received confirmation that the water supply is in the process of being restored, and Rand Water has begun pumping water to the affected towers and reservoirs. Full recovery of the network will most likely take several hours; however, the majority of the affected areas should be restored by this evening. However, for the high-lying areas, the water pressure will take longer to build but hopefully, water will be fully restored by tomorrow morning, 2 March.
Residents are urged to use water sparingly and avoid unnecessary water usage because some of the reservoirs in the system, such as the Meredale and Waterval reservoirs, are at critically low levels.
As soon as the date for the valve replacements and shutdown has been released, the Record will provide an update.
