City of Joburg urges residents to be mindful of water usage
The City of Johannesburg has urged its residents to be mindful of their water usage despite the increased rainfall.
The City of Johannesburg has urged its residents to be mindful of their water usage despite the increased rainfall to date.
The municipality released a statement in regards to the province’s water supply.
“The 14 major dams within the Integrated Vaal River System, from which Johannesburg gets it water, had an overall storage level increase to over 85 per cent. Currently, 14 dams situated in the Free State and the Highveld of Mpumalanga have an overall storage level of 75 per cent, which is still far above the 50 per cent level at which the dam levels are seen as critically low. This is still before the rainy season for the summer rainfall areas.
Read more: Use water sparingly, urges Rand Water
The storage capacity of the dams supplying water to Johannesburg is not sufficient to cater for the increased demand resulting from the economic and population growth expected in the future. Therefore the building of Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme, which is to be finalised in 2025. is very important. Until then, Johannesburg needs to use water sparingly.”
The city has requested the public to continue following the water guidelines set.
“Although the storage water for Johannesburg is healthy leading into summer, all indications are that Gauteng Province and the City of Johannesburg will only receive decent rainfall from January 2018, and with the increasing temperatures and lack of rain, the demand for water in the City of Johannesburg is increasing at an alarming rate.
Johannesburg Water has implemented Water Demand Management initiatives like the Water Mains Replacements, Pressure Management, and Active and Passive Leakage Control; however, residents also need to play their part to reduce consumption.
The City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water therefore continue to ask the residents of Johannesburg to use water sparingly and wisely, and to reduce their water demand. Increase in demand will impact future water availability and increase the possibility of water restrictions in the future. The City wants to remind the residents that watering of gardens is only allowed between 6pm and 6am and no hard surfaces must be hosed down with drinking water. This is part of the city’s by-laws and will be enforced. The City further wants to remind residents that if the demand is not reduced to acceptable levels, Johannesburg Water will start the process of increased pressure management which involves the reduction of supply into the reticulation system, similar to what was done during the restrictions earlier this year. Water saving tips can be obtained from the Johannesburg Water website at www.johannesburgwater.co.za
For customer enquiries, please contact the 24-hour Hotline at 011 375 5555/ 0860 562 874 or the SMS line at 082 653 2143, or send an email to customer@jwater.co.za.
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