Gauteng water woes improving despite hot weather - Rand Water
Water supply remains a challenge in Gauteng, with Rand Water warning hot and dry weather conditions adversely affect provision.
The water utility briefed the public on Friday to give an update on the status of bulk water storage and supply following weeks of interruptions in the province.
Chief Operating Officer Mahlomola Mehlo said all three of the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane metros have sufficient water supply.
“We can report that all three metros have got water, largely and partly due to those interventions of people that go out at night to close certain systems and then go out in the morning to open them.
“That is going to continue until all systems have stabilised and everybody has water.”
The Department of Water and Sanitation gave Gauteng the green light to implement water shifting after several areas experienced dry taps and critically low storage levels.
READ: Rand Water confirms implementation of 'water shifting' in Gauteng
Rand Water said while there’s still some more work to be done, those interventions have begun yielding positive results.
Chief Executive Officer Sipho Mosai said there are short-term and long-term measures in place that are aimed at achieving stability: “We are upgrading extensive coverage of the reservoirs that we launched, the recent one being in Vlakfontein at 210 megalitres of water per day, and we have additional reservoirs that are coming on in 2028.
“In terms of the new purification plant of 600 megalitres of water per day, we are already purifying an additional 150 million litres of water a day in the Zuikerbosch system. In the next 20 months or so, we are going to add another 450 [million] to complete the 600 megalitres of water a day.”
At the same time, Mehlo also said the improved storage levels at reservoirs meant officials would be in a better position to carry out maintenance work without disadvantaging consumers.
“If it continues in this trajectory, this would mean that we can also take some our equipment out for maintenance… unlike now, if we take any component of our infrastructure out for maintenance, it would mean an automatic interruption.”
Mehlo said there would still be residents who experience some outages, but these often weren’t bulk water-related and could often be linked to localised issues such as broken valves or pumps, leaks, and power outages.
