Johannesburg Water is aware of severe water outages in Ward 73

Houghton, Killarney and Orange Grove residents remain fed up with continuing water problems.

Ward 73 councillor Eleanor Huggett approached the Gazette on November 14 to express her dissatisfaction about Johannesburg Water’s service.

“Houghton, Killarney and Orange Grove and surrounding areas have been experiencing severe water outages due to several factors, including increased pressure on the amount of freshwater available for use, unequal distribution because of burst pipes, resulting in a lack of access to clean water. The water infrastructure, from water supply to treatment has fallen into disrepair due to a lack of planning and management of growing water demands due to increased population, migration, and expansion of settlements.”

Huggett added that Johannesburg Water was given a multi- year capital budget to focus on programs geared towards water and sewer pipe replacement and that the entity needed to prioritize the repair and maintenance of the water infrastructure in the affected areas.

Johannesburg Water’s spokesperson, Nombuso Shabalala said the water entity was aware of the issue, “Burst pipes due to ageing of infrastructure and non-functional valves on our networks are the issue. This then causes water supply interruptions because to complete pipe repairs, water supply needs to be isolated (closed). “

Furthermore, after pipe bursts have been repaired and water is opened again, it takes a while before water supply is back to normal as water takes time to build up in the system again.

Shabalala added that Johannesburg Water’s allocation by the City of Johannesburg for its operational budget is R15.6 billion for the 2023/2024 financial year.

“This will mainly cater for a tariff increase of 9.3% based on a pass through on the water purchases from Rand Water to invest in maintenance of the water network. The entity is further allocated a R3.1 billion multi-year capital budget that is R2.6 billion, and R514 million for water and sewer, respectively. “

She concluded that the allocated budget will focus on programmes geared towards water and sewer pipe replacement, “Upgrades and storage infrastructure, the Wastewater Treatment Works Programme, as well as repairs and maintenance. Johannesburg Water capacity upgrade and renewal programmes cater for the augmentation of water supply and the renewal of ageing infrastructure. “

The Reservoir Upgrade programme provides the capacity to maintain a 24-hour storage requirement. This is necessary to provide water pressure and continuity of supply to consumers in the event of supply disruption.

The water Pipe Renewal Programme aims at replacing the ageing water mains which have reached the end of their useful lifespan.

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