Load shedding may mean water cuts too
EskomSePush can be downloaded on any smartphone device on the Google Play Store or iStore for Apple devices.
South Africa was left in the dark last week as the country’s power utility declared it was technically insolvent and could no longer afford to keep the lights on. As the country prepares to hear how the government plans to bail the state-owned entity (SOE) out, it is important that the community is aware of how load shedding will affect them.
Load shedding not only affects the electricity supply but it also affects the water supply in the City of Johannesburg (COJ) according to MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Councillor Nico de Jager.
“When load shedding of four or more hours is experienced, pockets of areas will have water shortages or even low pressure. This is because Johannesburg Water uses electricity to pump water from the reservoir into the towers,” de Jager said in a media statement.
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The City is currently working on an alternative energy source so as to avoid instituting both electricity and water cuts. COJ will be getting mobile generators to assist with the pumping of water during the power outages.
“I have met with management of both Johannesburg Water and City Power to negotiate ways that will assist to minimise the impact on water towers when load shedding is implemented.
“Johannesburg Water will communicate with City Power when water levels are running low at certain towers. City Power will then ensure that power supply is restored to that specific area,” said de Jager in an effort to reassure residents.
While the COJ is working on ensuring that it does not institute water cuts during the load shedding midst, residents are advised to ensure that they have enough water during load shedding. Eskom offers a multitude of ways to ensure that one stays ahead of the blackouts with its load-shedding app called ‘EskomSePush’.
The application sends push notifications on one’s phone alerting them to when the next scheduled load shedding session is in their area. Alternatively, residents can access the schedule on Eskom’s load-shedding website https://loadshedding.eskom.co.za/.
Eskom has four stages of load shedding, load shedding will, however, be around two hours long in one instance. This is, however, not the case for Eskom-supplied areas in the City of Johannesburg, those areas will be affected by loading shedding for an average of 4.5 hours in order to accommodate the 4-hour blocks that are instituted by City Power. EskomSePush can be downloaded on any smartphone device on the Google Play Store or iStore for Apple devices.
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