Rand Water shutdown: Pumping resumes at Zwartkopjes system

Rand Water shutdown: Pumping resumes at Zwartkopjes system

13 July 2023 – 20:00

Media Statement

Rand Water shutdown: Pumping resumes at Zwartkopjes system

The Rand Water shutdown is scheduled to end on Friday, 14 July at 05:00, having begun on Tuesday, 11 July at 19:00.

However, the full recovery of the affected Johannesburg Water systems will take five to 14 days. This was confirmed by the bulk supplier, Rand Water, in a statement shared on Thursday afternoon. “Customers are further notified that, since the reservoirs have run empty in some areas, the recovery of high-lying areas can take several days to be fully restored,” confirmed Rand Water.

When monitoring our systems, Johannesburg Water noticed that water levels had dropped at the Daleside Booster Pump Station (Ennerdale, Orange Farm, and Lawley) areas despite the system having recovered by Wednesday, 12 July. Upon engaging with Rand Water, it was discovered that the bulk supplier had redirected the pumping to the Vereeniging system without notifying Johannesburg Water. While this has since been resolved, it did impact supply to these areas.

Johannesburg Water continues to prioritise critical areas such as hospitals, clinics, and old age homes by providing alternative water supply. As at Thursday afternoon, the entity had deployed an additional 111 stationary tanks and 54 additional water trucks to service residents during the shutdown.

As at Thursday morning, the following progress has been made:

Zwartkopjes Booster Pump Station (Johannesburg South and CBD):
Work has been completed and pumping resumed around midday on Thursday, 12 July.

Eikenhof Booster Pump Station
Greater Randburg / Roodepoort areas:
The work is still ongoing and there is no pumping taking place. Therefore, the overall system is critically low to empty. There is no feed to all the direct supply points and towers, and the reservoirs are critically low to empty.

Soweto, South of Johannesburg and Lenasia:
There is no pumping taking place. Reservoirs in Soweto, Lenasia, and the South of Johannesburg are all critically low to empty.

Johannesburg Water will continue providing updates on the recovery of its impacted systems.

Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.