Johannesburg Water urging patience from communities accessing water tankers

The second full day of the Rand Water outage is being marked by residents frustrated with water tanker availability.

Johannesburg Water (JW) has confirmed that as of midday on July 13, the Eikenhof Booster Pump Station, which serves the reservoirs in the greater Roodepoort and Randburg areas, is now empty. Businesses and residents around Roodepoort have made do with borehole pumps but some areas have been affected by unplanned power outages, restricting their usage of these borehole pumps.

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Residents have reported that finding tankers at the listed sites has been difficult. Medical facilities are key sites in Roodepoort which have taken precedence for refilling but JW acknowledged that refilling and distributing water elsewhere was being done slower than expected. The entity said they were aware of the delays and were working on solutions to the challenges.

Additionally, JW asked that residents not interfere with staff at any of the listed sites.

“While the frustration of residents is understandable, JW pleads with community members not to approach critical sites such as hospitals and clinics to get water as this drastically reduces the health facilities’ water supply,” advised JW communication and marketing via a press release.

• Also read: New dates for Rand Water shutdown announced

JW says that it is committed to providing continuous water supply throughout the city but urged residents to co-operate.

“Blocking off the entity’s water trucks only amplifies the already existing water shortages and causes delays in providing water to community members,” the statement added. The entity explained that residents in some affected areas obstructed tankers from entering the areas before Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department cleared the scene.

The entity will continue to redeploy trucks from areas with normal supply to augment the relief services being provided.