LISTEN: Water supply to the West Rand affected due to flashover at Eikenhof
Residents are warned of a possible water shortage; with no estimated time of repair for tonight, Tuesday, 5 March.
Eikehof substation is busy undergoing emergency repairs by City Power after one of the isolators experienced a ‘flashover’ on Monday evening, March 4.
City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the incident occurred around 20:00 and affected the dedicated transformer supplying power to the Rand Water pump station.
Any idea when water will be restored?
— Done Dunkley (@done_dunkley69) March 5, 2024
According to a Google search, a flashover is the almost simultaneous combustion of the majority of immediately exposed flammable material in a confined location.
Mangena stated that Rand Water is currently not pumping water, and unfortunately, no alternative supply is available.
“City Power teams reacted swiftly and are on site working on solutions. We will be dismantling the feeder board where the flashover occurred to do the repairs and pressure-test it before attempting to restore it.”
According to Mangena, they unfortunately anticipate work to go on until tonight, March 5.
With this, water supply to Joburg and areas including Krugersdorp, Carletonville, parts of Brits and Rustenburg may be affected.
“Power supply to the residential customers feeding from Eikenhof substation is fortunately not affected by this, City Power has notified Rand Water and is working closely with its teams to implement solutions to restore supply,” said Mangena.
Johannesburg Water released a statement about the system being affected by a power outage.
They said the following systems in Roodepoort are affected:
Waterval and Weltevreden, Blairgowrie Reservoir, Boschkop Reservoir, Constantia Tower, Cosmo City Reservoir, Florida North Tower, Helderkruin Reservoir and tower, Honeydew Reservoir and tower, Horizon Tower, Kensington-B Reservoir and tower, Linden 1 Reservoir and tower, Linden 2 Reservoir, Quellerina Tower, Randpark Ridge Reservoir, Waterval Tower, Olivedale Reservoir, Robertsville Reservoir, and Witpoortjie Reservoir and tower.
