by l3rato | Aug 31, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
31 August 2023 – 11:15
Media Statement
Johannesburg Water systems to be impacted by Rand Water maintenance
Some Johannesburg Water reservoirs will be affected by a planned maintenance by Rand Water for 17 hours from Tuesday, 5 to Wednesday, 6 September 2023.
The maintenance work will be carried from 15:00 on Tuesday, 5 September to 08:00 on Wednesday, 6 September to minimise the impact of water supply interruptions. During the planned maintenance work, the Rand Water will be replacing a malfunctioning 800mm Stafford meter.
Johannesburg Water plans to mitigate the impact to customers.
The following Johannesburg Water reservoirs will be affected:
• Parktown reservoir 1 – no impact anticipated.
• Parktown reservoir 2 – The outlet will be throttled (water supply will be reduced) to about 40%. Low pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone. Customers are requested to reduce consumption to minimise impact and to allow for quick recovery.
• Dunkeld reservoir – The inlet valve will be closed to reduce impact at Parktown reservoir 2. Therefore, low pressure to no water may be experienced in this supply zone.
• Berea reservoir – The outlet will be throttled (water supply will be reduced) to about 30%. Low pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone. Customers are requested to reduce consumption to minimise impact and allow for quick recovery.
• Hursthill reservoir 1 – No adjustments due to network configuration. Low pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone.
• Hursthill reservoir 2 – The outlet will be closed during the shutdown period. Low pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone.
Alternative water supply will be arranged for affected customers.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Aug 1, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
1 August 2023
Media Statement
Rand Water planned maintenance on 9 August to impact Soweto
There is a planned Rand Water shutdown that will take place for 17 hours from 07:00 to midnight on Wednesday, 9 August 2023. The shutdown will impact various areas around Soweto.
The purpose of the planned maintenance is for Rand Water to repair leaking bypass pipelines, as well as valves on the F33, F40 and F44.
Supply to the Chiawelo and Doornkop West reservoirs will be affected, as well as the direct feeds to the Tshepisong and Chiawelo regions.
As a result, customers in these reservoir zones and direct feed supply areas will be affected by low pressure to no water.
Customers are encouraged to store sufficient water, at least two days before the outage (Monday, 7 August). Johannesburg Water also urges customers to use water sparingly during the shutdown.
1. Direct feed areas include:
• All Tshepisong (phases one to seven)
• All Ebumnandini Informal Settlement
• All Slovoville Village
• All Slovoville Informal Settlement
• All Slovoville compound
• Leratong Village
2. Areas fed by the Chiawelo reservoir include:
Lone Hill Ext 68, Chiawelo, Chiawelo Ext 4, Chiawelo Ext 1, Klipriviersoog Ext 1, Klipriviersoog Estate, Dhlamini Ext 1, Dhlamini, Protea Glen Ext 1, Protea Glen Ext 4, Chiawelo Ext 5, Protea Gardens, Protea South Ext 1, Chiawelo Ext 2, Protea North Ext 9, Mapetla Ext 1, Protea North, Protea, Chiawelo Ext 3, Protea North Ext 1, Protea Glen Ext 8, and Protea Glen Ext 9.
3. Areas fed by the Doornkop reservoir include:
Thulani, Thulani Ext 1, Thulani Ext 2, Lufhereng Ext 1, Dobsonville Ext 9, Doornkop Ext 3, Protea City, Protea Glen Ext 1, Protea Glen Ext 2, Protea Glen Ext 4, Doornkop, Doornkop Ext 1, Dobsonville Gardens, Doornkop Ext 2, Protea Glen, Protea Glen Ext 7, Protea Glen Ext 8, Lufhereng, and Protea Glen Ext 3.
Recovery may take up to 48 hours after the completion of the maintenance work. Alternative water supply will be arranged, and the location of the water tankers will be communicated in due course.
Further updates will be provided to customers.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 25, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
25 July 2023
Media Advisory
Johannesburg Water to switch from open mode to prepaid smart meters
Johannesburg Water is rolling out new smart meters as the entity is switching from open mode to prepaid smart meters.
The rollout will commence from Monday, 31 July in the following areas: Cosmo City, Orlando East and West, Diepkloof, and Orange Farm. This means that customers will be able to buy water from this day onwards.
The benefit of prepaid smart meters is that customers will be able to pay for their consumption, but those without meters will be billed for availability charges or deemed consumption which in most cases is above their consumption and more expensive. Furthermore, qualifying residents will be able to, and are encouraged to, register for the Expanded Social Package (ESP) at the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Social Development to access benefits.
Currently, the process of pairing the open meters with Customer Interface Units (CIUs) is taking place. Therefore, Johannesburg Water urges customers to grant their teams access to their properties for the process of meter pairing. Customers without meters will be deemed to have refused the meters hence bylaws will be enforced that will result in the disconnection of their water supply.
Following the rollout in the abovementioned areas, the prepaid meters project will be extended to other regions.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
More information can be obtained on:
Twitter: @JHBWater / Facebook: Johannesburg Water
Website: https://www.johannesburgwater.co.za
Customer service inquiries
24-hour Hotline: 011 688 1699/ 086 056 2874
SMS line: 45201
by l3rato | Jul 19, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
19 July 2023 – 11:30
Media Statement
Service delivery at Ennerdale Depot impacted by hijacking incidents
Service delivery activities have been disrupted at Johannesburg Water’s Ennerdale Depot.
This is due to depot employees embarking on a sit-in strike after two hijackings of Johannesburg Water vehicles took place over the past week. These incidents occurred while employees were on duty in Ennerdale.
This has resulted in staff members downing tools after they cited safety issues relating to the hijackings experienced. This will compromise service delivery as the depot will not be fully operational. Consequently, logged calls for issues such as burst pipes and leaking water meters will take longer to attend to.
The matter has been escalated to executive management and employees will be addressed accordingly. Counseling services will also be arranged for the affected employees.
Johannesburg Water appeals to communities not to disrupt the entity’s employees when delivering water and sanitation services which are essential.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 18, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
18 July 2023 – 12:45
Media Statement
Recovery of Johannesburg Water systems stand at 90% – more progress anticipated
Johannesburg Water’s operations team has confirmed that the entity’s systems are recovering well four days post the planned Rand Water shutdown. This is within the projected recovery period of between five to 14 days.
Considering that this has been the largest shutdown the entity has experienced – where almost 80% of the systems were affected – the progress made thus far is noteworthy. Although not all the systems have fully recovered, specifically the Randburg, Soweto and Johannesburg Central areas, the overall recovery has been good.
Johannesburg Water teams continue prioritising flushing the network to get rid of airlocks in areas that are still struggling with low pressure to no water.
The infrastructure below advises of improving recovery:
Soweto
Overall, the Soweto region has seen a 90% recovery of its systems. The Orlando reservoir levels have recovered and are sitting at 50% this morning, while the Meadowlands, Jabulani, and Braamfischer reservoirs have appreciated over 70%. There are a few areas which are still impacted, however alternative water supply is being provided to affected communities as systems gradually normalise.
Commando system (Brixton, Hursthill and Crosby)
The Crosby reservoir is still in recovery mode, with one pump operating into the Brixton system. The Brixton reservoir is at 50% capacity and the outlet is open at 100%, while the tower is operating normally. The Hursthill system is experiencing slow recovery and currently, levels are critically low; therefore, customers supplied by the Hursthill reservoir zones will experience poor pressure to no water during peak periods.
Johannesburg Central
The Crown Gardens reservoir is stable and is supplying normally, with the outlet opened at 100%. The towers are also stable and operating normally.
Berea reservoir is currently at 10% after the morning peak, but will continue to improve during off-peak hours, especially overnight as most systems recover during that period. Parktown 2 reservoir has also seen improvement from Monday and has a steady capacity of 50%.
The overall recovery of the Yeoville complex is at 65%. Customers in the Yeoville pump station zone may experience poor pressure or no water due to technical challenges at the pump station.
Randburg/Roodepoort
The recovery of the greater Roodepoort area is now over 90%, with most systems fully operational and supplying normally. However, there are some high-lying areas with poor pressure or intermittent supply as some of the systems are recovering.
About 80% of the Randburg systems have recovered, with some areas still experiencing poor pressure to no water. The Linden 1 reservoir and tower remain critically low and customers in this supply zone will continue experiencing low pressure to no water. The Blairgowrie reservoir has improved overnight and is currently at 50%. Alternative water supply is being provided to customers in the affected areas of Linden, Bordeaux and Blairgowrie.
*Please note that water in the system fluctuates throughout the day as reservoir and tower levels respond to demand patterns according to peak and off-peak periods. Water demand is at its highest during peak, lowest during off peak, and minimum during night flows).
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 17, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
17 July 2023 – 14:00
Media Statement
Majority of Johannesburg Water systems make steady recovery
Large parts of Johannesburg suburbs have had water supply restored; however, high-lying areas are still experiencing low water pressure.
The entity continues to supply water tankers to the critical areas.
Although work has been completed, Johannesburg Water customers are reminded that full recovery will take five to 14 days. Customers in higher-lying areas will experience the outage for a longer period as the network gradually recovers.
Customers who have regained supply are urged to use water sparingly, only for drinking and cooking, and hygiene purposes. Please refrain from watering your gardens, filling up swimming pools, and using hose pipes to wash cars.
Soweto
The Orlando reservoir levels have improved and capacity has increased to 16%. Flows are back to normal. The Meadowlands and Braamfischerville reservoir zones continue to struggle with water supply. Technical teams are flushing the infrastructure in the area to get rid of airlocks in the system. Johannesburg Water continues to supply alternative water supply.
Randburg/Roodepoort
Majority of the reservoirs and towers are recovering and will continue to build up storage overnight. The Blairgowrie reservoir levels have increased and are sitting at 30% capacity, while flows have improved. The Linden 1 reservoir is at 6%, while the Linden 1 tower has improved and is at 45%. The areas supplied by these three systems are still struggling with water. These three systems are still struggling because they are situated at a higher altitude in the system. Furthermore, they are fed by Rand Water’s Waterval reservoir, so, as the Waterval reservoir gains capacity, so will these systems.
Commando system (Brixton, Hursthill, Crosby)
Supply at the Commando meter continues to recover. At the Crosby reservoir, supply is still on recovery and inflows are increasing. The Brixton reservoir outlet is open at 100% and the tower is operating normally. The Hursthill 1 reservoir has gained capacity and is sitting at 13% with low inflows, while the Hursthill 2 reservoir has a capacity of 15% and inflows are also low. Hursthill 2 reservoir should be able to supply high-lying areas of that zone.
Johannesburg South and CBD
The Crown Gardens reservoir outlet is opened at 100% and has improved capacity to 70%, from Sunday’s 62%. Pumping at the Crown Gardens towers took place overnight and supply in this system should be back to normal. However, high-lying areas are still struggling with low pressure to no water. The Parktown 2 reservoir has improved significantly and is sitting at 41%, while the Berea reservoir is at 15% and continues to be on an upward path compared to previous days.
Loadshedding continues to affect recovery times. This is due to the fact that the system is currently in recovery mode, so any loadshedding would affect recovery times as pumping is interrupted during power outages.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
