Joburg has plan to solve water crisis, assures Gwamanda

Gwamanda and Johannesburg Water management briefed the media on the city's system challenges on Friday morning.

This comes after the water supply systems were severely affected over large parts of the City of Gold by a lightning strike which caused a power outage to the Eikenhof Substation ten days ago.

This led to the problem at the Eikenhof pump station, which is a major supply source for water in the city last week.

Residents and businesses were left with dry taps across 20 suburbs over the past 13 days.

The mayor said the city has an action plan in place to solve water issues.

"Rand Water also pumped additional mega litres of water which contributed to improvements in our affected systems. 

"On a daily basis the team checked for airlocks resulting in improved water pressure as a result the system has built capacity and reservoir levels are steadily stabilising and getting to what we consider acceptable levels."

Gwamanda said the city expects more areas to receive water supply throughout the weekend.

"Although the poor pressure in these areas that include parts Ferndale, Laborie, and Robbyndale.  These are the last areas that remain to be fully restored with supply in the city. 

"Throughout today and over the weekend it is projected that more areas will recover as our reservoirs and towers build more capacity and stabilise. 

"Our technical teams will continue to monitor the systems and we will keep residents informed of developments and any changes that may occur."

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