by l3rato | Jul 16, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
16 July 2023 – 11:00
Media Statement
Upward trajectory noted overnight on Johannesburg Water systems
Johannesburg Water’s systems continue to show improvement. Since Saturday, 15 July, there has been an upward trajectory in terms of capacity building, and flows have improved and continue to stabilise.
Systems which are still critical include Crown Gardens, Commando, and the Randburg/Roodepoort region. The entity continues to deploy additional water tankers to these areas and will continue to monitor them.
Lenasia/Soweto
The Orlando reservoir has increased capacity to 5% and is steadily improving. All other reservoirs are receiving normal water supply and are at normal levels.
Commando system (Brixton, Hursthill, Crosby)
The supply at the Commando meter is recovering. At Crosby, the supply is also still in recovery with increased inflows, with two pumps operating and pumping into the Brixton reservoir. As a result, the outlet at the Brixton reservoir is 100% open, with the tower operating normally.
Hursthill 1 reservoir has a capacity of 5% with very little inflows, while the Hursthill 2 reservoir has a capacity of 15%, although inflows are still very low. Johannesburg Water’s technical teams have been closing the outlet overnight, which has helped to build capacity.
Johannesburg South and CBD
The Crown Gardens reservoir outlet has been opened at 100%, while the capacity level increased to 45%. As a result, inflows are recovering. However, the tower is empty because the reservoir capacity is too low for pumping.
The Berea reservoir’s capacity has increased and is currently sitting at 15%, showing an upward trajectory in its recovery. The Parktown 2 reservoir level is also looking healthier than Saturday and has a capacity of 10%.
Randburg/Roodepoort
Several reservoirs in the Randburg/Roodepoort region are getting low inflows and the towers are currently empty. Some of the reservoirs and towers are either being supplied using Rand Water’s hydraulic pressure or are receiving pumping from a reservoir. Currently, the system is not pressurised enough and some of the reservoirs do not have adequate capacity for pumping. Additional Johannesburg Water technical teams have been mobilised and are busy starting the pumps to supply the towers that are currently empty.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 15, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
15 July 2023 – 19:00
Media Statement
Update: Recovery of impacted Johannesburg Water systems
Technical teams at Johannesburg Water are working around-the-clock to build capacity at the various affected reservoirs and towers.
As at Saturday afternoon, 15 July, Johannesburg Water systems were as follows:
Commando system (Brixton, Hursthill, Crosby)
The Brixton reservoir outlet has been opened at 50%, while the tower is 50% full. Residents are getting water, particularly in Mayfair West and Crosby. The Hursthill reservoirs are still struggling. The Hursthill 2 reservoir will be closed overnight to try to build capacity. The Crosby reservoir is in recovery mode and has normal flows.
Lenasia/Soweto
The Chiawelo reservoir inflows are normal, but the demand on the system is high. The Orlando reservoir has normal flows but has not been able to build capacity. More water tankers have been added to service the region.
Johannesburg South and CBD
The system has improved, and the Helen Joseph Hospital has been getting water from the network since this afternoon, while the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital has been on the system since Thursday, 13 July.
The Berea reservoir is 13% full and has seen improvement since this morning, while the Parktown 2 reservoir is still empty and has not yet built capacity. Emergency supply has been opened at the Parktown 2 reservoir.
The Crown Gardens reservoir outlet is 50% open, but levels are low. Although there are improved inflows, the system is not yet back to normal flows but is performing better than yesterday. The two towers are still empty.
Randburg/Roodepoort
Repairs on the Rand Water Q2 pipe have been completed. However, the system will improve overnight, and recovery will only be felt from Sunday, 16 July.
by l3rato | Jul 15, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
15 July 2023 – 19:00
Media Statement
Update: Recovery of impacted Johannesburg Water systems
Technical teams at Johannesburg Water are working around-the-clock to build capacity at the various affected reservoirs and towers.
As at Saturday afternoon, 15 July, Johannesburg Water systems were as follows:
Commando system (Brixton, Hursthill, Crosby)
The Brixton reservoir outlet has been opened at 50%, while the tower is 50% full. Residents are getting water, particularly in Mayfair West and Crosby. The Hursthill reservoirs are still struggling. The Hursthill 2 reservoir will be closed overnight to try to build capacity. The Crosby reservoir is in recovery mode and has normal flows.
Lenasia/Soweto
The Chiawelo reservoir inflows are normal, but the demand on the system is high. The Orlando reservoir has normal flows but has not been able to build capacity. More water tankers have been added to service the region.
Johannesburg South and CBD
The system has improved, and the Helen Joseph Hospital has been getting water from the network since this afternoon, while the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital has been on the system since Thursday, 13 July.
The Berea reservoir is 13% full and has seen improvement since this morning, while the Parktown 2 reservoir is still empty and has not yet built capacity. Emergency supply has been opened at the Parktown 2 reservoir.
The Crown Gardens reservoir outlet is 50% open, but levels are low. Although there are improved inflows, the system is not yet back to normal flows but is performing better than yesterday. The two towers are still empty.
Randburg/Roodepoort
Repairs on the Rand Water Q2 pipe have been completed. However, the system will improve overnight, and recovery will only be felt from Sunday, 16 July.
The region is still critical, with several reservoirs and towers being empty and still needing to build capacity. More water tankers have been added to service the region.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 15, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
15 July 2023 – 13:00
Media Statement
Rand Water shutdown: Johannesburg Water systems show steady progress
Johannesburg Water systems continue to show gradual improvement. Most notably, the areas that are recovering include Lenasia and Soweto, Johannesburg CBD, as well as some parts of Johannesburg South.
The Randburg/Roodepoort areas continue to be critical and Johannesburg Water teams are closely monitoring this area.
However, customers are reminded that the system is dynamic and constantly changes. Furthermore, load shedding schedules play a huge role in recovery times.
As at Saturday morning, 15 July, Johannesburg Water systems were as follows:
Randburg/Roodepoort
A vandalised air valve on the Rand Water Q2 pipe that also supplies the Randburg/Roodepoort system has been vandalised and is leaking, as a result, pumping had to be reduced to execute repairs, and thus affecting supply into that system. Therefore, recovery is slow.
Furthermore, load shedding is impacting pumping at many Roodepoort tower zones, including Florida North, Helderkruin, Horizon, Waterval, and Witpoortjie. Overall, the system is less than 50% recovered. This is furthermore exasperated by the high demand of water where water is available.
Additional roaming water tankers have been arranged to be placed at critical areas.
Suburbs without water:
Discovery, Ontdekkers Park, Horizon View, Princess Informal Settlement, Roodekrans, Heldekriun, Amarosa, Wilropark, Radiokop, Roodepoort CBD, Sundowner, and parts of Randpark Ridge.
Suburbs with water:
Parts of Randpark Ridge, Witpoortjie (but at lower pressure), Jukskei Park, Johannesburg North, Kya Sands, Bloubosrand, Lion Pride, Cosmo City Business Park, Cosmo City, Thabo Mbeki Informal Settlement, Lanseria, and parts of Florida.
Lenasia/Soweto:
Improvements are showing in Lenasia and Soweto areas; however, additional water tankers are being moved to Soweto. The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has also been prioritised.
Suburbs with water:
In Lenasia, several areas have noted that water has returned, such as Lenasia South and extensions, Lehae, Vlakfontein, Kanana Park, Zakariyya Park, Finetown, and Migson Manor.
Suburbs without water:
Finetown North.
Commando (Brixton, Hursthill, Crosby)
The Brixton reservoir outlet has been opened at 50% and pumping into the Brixton tower resumed this morning, therefore areas fed by the reservoir and tower should be seeing improvements of water supply during the course of the day. The Hursthill reservoirs are still struggling so the areas in this zone still do not have water. Alternative water supply will be provided.
Johannesburg South and CBD
Additional water tankers are being moved to Johannesburg CBD to service critical areas. The Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital is being supplied by the emergency line from the Crosby reservoir, while pumping has resumed at Helen Joseph Hospital.
CBD:
The greater Johannesburg CBD should have water restored; however. Furthermore, areas fed by the Parktown and Berea reservoirs will still have low pressure to no water, especially high-lying areas.
South:
Some areas in the south that are showing improvement include the Glenvista, Mondeor, and Glenanda zones as the reservoirs have recovered. However, the Crown Gardens system is still struggling. The reservoir has low water levels, and the tower zone is empty because there is no pumping into the tower. Once the reservoir levels pick up, only then can pumping into the tower resume. However, low-lying areas should start getting water.
Full list of areas serviced by the Crown Gardens system:
Crown Gardens reservoir zone
Crown Gardens tower zone
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
by l3rato | Jul 14, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement
14 July 2023 – 20:00
Media Statement
More Johannesburg areas recover post the Rand Water shutdown
As more Johannesburg Water systems recover, more areas are gradually starting to receive water again.
Both Soweto and Lenasia systems continue showing improved supply.
Some customers in the Randburg/Roodepoort suburbs had by Friday afternoon, 14 July, reported that water had started returning to their taps, specifically in Sundowner, Allen’s Neck, and Randpark Ridge. However, most of the region’s supply is still critically low to empty. To mitigate the situation, supplementary water tankers have been redirected from the Midrand region to assist in the Randburg/Roodepoort areas.
Earlier on Friday morning, residents in Rosebank, Dunkeld West, Oakdene, Kenilworth, and parts of Soweto had already started getting water in their taps.
Meanwhile, the Johannesburg South and CBD areas continue to show slow recovery. Additional water tankers have been deployed to the Johannesburg CBD areas to mitigate the low water supply.
Customers are reminded that although the Johannesburg Water systems are showing gradual improvement, it will take time before reservoirs and towers fill up again.
Further updates will be provided on the progress of the recovery of our systems.
Ends
Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.
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.
