by Teboho | Jul 14, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
14 July 2023 – 10:30
Media Statement
Rand Water shutdown: Johannesburg Water systems gradually recovering as repair work is completed
The repairs that were conducted during the planned Rand Water shutdown, from Tuesday, 11 July at 19:00, to Friday morning at 05:00, have been completed and Johannesburg Water systems are gradually recovering.
Residents in some areas have confirmed that water is gradually returning to their systems, particularly in Rosebank, Dunkeld West, Oakdene, Kenilworth, and parts of Soweto.
As this was one of the biggest planned maintenance shutdowns, there were challenges experienced as expected of operations of this magnitude. Some of the major issues which impacted Johannesburg Water systems are as follows:
• The Zwartkopjes repairs, which were supposed to take 24 hours, were only completed at 01:00 on Thursday, 13 July, as opposed to 19:00 on Wednesday, 12 July.
• There was no continuous pumping of the 24% of water at the Eikenhof Booster Station that was supposed to take place throughout the shutdown. There was no pumping on Wednesday night, resulting in Soweto and Lenasia systems being critically low to empty. By Thursday, the Eikenhof system was empty.
• The entity did not get the 300 megalitres of extra water pumping into Johannesburg Water systems as promised by the bulk supplier.
Although work has been completed, Johannesburg Water customers are reminded that full recovery will take five to 14 days. To give context into the recovery process, water is not like electricity. When power comes back after a power failure, one can hit a switch and the light comes back almost immediately. Water, on the other hand, is supplied through a long series of pipelines. If a reservoir goes low or empty, as majority of them did during the shutdown, it sometimes takes days and even weeks to recover that storage.
The Commando system (Hursthill, Brixton, and Crosby), a historically problematic system, will take longer to improve.
As the recovery of systems takes place, Johannesburg Water will continue providing alternative water supply to areas that are still struggling, particularly in the Johannesburg CBD as well as hospitals and clinics. Technical teams will reroute water tankers from areas showing improvement to those that are not receiving water.
Customers 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.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by Teboho | Jul 13, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
13 July 2023 – 13:00
Media Statement
Johannesburg Water urges residents to allow water tankers access to communities
Johannesburg Water is imploring residents to not obstruct the entity’s efforts to ensure continuous water supply during the Rand Water shutdown.
This comes after residents in some affected areas, such as Soweto and the Langlaagte region, obstructed Johannesburg Water tankers from entering the areas.
In the Langlaagte region, community members had blocked off water tankers from entering, however the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) has since been called to the scene to assist.
Blocking off the entity’s water trucks only amplifies the already existing water shortages and causes delays in providing water to community members.
Johannesburg Water had also noted increased turnaround times for refilling water tankers at filling points, however the entity is working at mitigating these challenges.
Furthermore, while the frustration of residents is understandable, Johannesburg Water 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.
Johannesburg Water continues to redeploy water trucks from the Daleside system – where normal supply has been restored – to areas that are still critical, such as the Roodepoort/Randburg and Southdale regions.
As at Thursday morning, the following progress has been made:
Zwartkopjes Booster Pump Station (Johannesburg South and CBD):
Work was completed at Zwartkopjes according to schedule and pumping has resumed. The Rand Water system should start recovering, after which the Johannesburg Water will also commence with recovery.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (greater Randburg / Roodepoort areas):
The Randburg/Roodepoort system is empty as the reservoirs that supply the region, including the Waterval 2 and Weltevreden reservoirs, are empty.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (Soweto, South of Johannesburg and Lenasia):
The Soweto and Lenasia systems are critically low to empty. Therefore, there is a high demand for alternative water supply. Hence Johannesburg Water is pleading with residents to allow water trucks to service their areas.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by Teboho | Jul 13, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
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.
by Teboho | Jul 12, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
12 July 2023
Media Statement
Rand Water shutdown: status of impacted Johannesburg Water systems
The Rand Water shutdown commenced on Tuesday at 19:00, 11 July and will be completed at 05:00 on Friday, 14 July 2023.
Johannesburg Water technical teams are monitoring the entity’s impacted systems.
As at Wednesday morning, 12 July, the following progress has been made:
Daleside Booster Pump Station (Ennerdale, Orange Farm and Lawyley areas)
The work has been completed according to the scheduled eight hours. Supply to all the areas is normalising.
Zwartjkopjes Booster Pump Station (Johannesburg South and CBD)
Reservoirs in this pump station still have some capacity but are taking a downward direction. Once work is completed, it is estimated that recovery will take five days.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (Greater Randburg / Rooderpoort areas)
This is the system that is mostly affected. All the towers and some reservoirs are empty. The recovery of this system will take up to ten days once work has been completed.
Ekeinhof Booster Pump Station (Soweto, South of Johannesburg and Lenasia)
The work is currently in progress. The Soweto reservoir and towers still have capacity. The Lenasia and South reservoirs are very low to empty. Recovery of the system will take up to ten days.
Johannesburg Water is providing stationary tankers in critical areas like hospitals, clinics, municipal offices, schools, and police stations. There are also roaming water tankers across the suburbs that are affected.
We thank residents who heeded the call to store water ahead of the Rand Water shutdown. Residents are also encouraged to keep their taps closed, as a forgotten unattended open tap can lead to flooding or at least a waste of water when the supply is restored.
Further updates will be provided as they become available.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by Teboho | Jul 12, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
12 July 2023 – 19:00
Media Statement
Rand Water shutdown: additional Johannesburg Water tankers deployed
Johannesburg Water has provided an additional 149 stationary tanks and 65 water trucks to mitigate the water shortage due to the Rand Water shutdown.
Work has been completed at the Daleside Booster Pump Station (Ennerdale, Orange Farm and Lawyley) and water supply is normal. The water tankers that were supplying these areas have been redeployed to supply those that are still in need, such as the Randburg/Roodepoort and Southdale regions.
The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) is assisting the Soweto depot in providing security for water tankers to ensure that they are able to deliver water safely to Soweto communities.
Furthermore, the entity pleads with residents to not approach critical sites such as hospitals and clinics to get water as this drastically reduces the health facilities’ water supply.
As at this afternoon, the following progress has been made:
Zwartjkopjes Booster Pump Station (Johannesburg South and CBD):
Work is progressing as scheduled at the Eikenhof Booster Pump Station. Reservoirs and towers in the South and CBD are critically low to empty. The system continues to take a strain and in some of the reservoirs, pumping has stopped.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (greater Randburg / Roodepoort areas):
The reservoirs are critically low to empty, the towers are empty, and there is no water at direct supply points.
Eikenhof Booster Pump Station (Soweto, South of Johannesburg and Lenasia):
Soweto reservoirs and towers have capacity, however, the Doornkop reservoir is empty and the Tshepisong direct supply does not have water as well. The Lenasia and South systems are 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.
by Teboho | Jul 10, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
10 July 2023
Media Statement
Rand Water planned shutdown update
As previously communicated, the planned Rand Water shutdown is taking place from 19:00 on Tuesday, 11 July to 05:00 on Friday, 14 July 2023.
The purpose of the planned shutdown is to replace old critical infrastructure.
The benefits of the shutdown include:
• To improve infrastructure reliability and availability.
• To reduce unplanned infrastructure breakdowns (emergency breakdowns)
• To allow flexibility, in that during maintenance, water supply can be supplemented from another pump station system thereby reducing the impact of water supply interruptions.
• To upgrade old critical water supply infrastructure.
We are further requesting that customers are mindful and considerate when collecting water from tankers, that they preserve some for fellow residents coming after them.
Areas not affected by the Rand Water shutdown include the Midrand and greater Sandton areas. However, a part of Sandton supplied from the Dunkeld reservoir will be affected.
Johannesburg Water will provide stationary tankers in critical areas like hospitals, clinics, municipal offices, schools, and police stations. There will also be roaming water tankers across the suburbs that will be affected.
Further updates to residents will be provided during the shutdown.
Ends
Issued by Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
