Joburg Water confident of water supply during heatwave
Johannesburg Water has assured residents that there are contingency plans in place to ensure continuous water supply during the heatwave.
The utility provided an update on the state of water supply in the city on Thursday.
This comes after the South African Weather Service warned of persistent high temperatures until Friday in various parts of the country, including Gauteng.
"Heatwave conditions with persistently high temperatures exceeding average maximum are expected in the central and eastern parts of the Free State, the North West Province, the north-eastern parts of Northern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the western parts of the midlands of KZN up to at least Friday," SAWS said.
Johannesburg emergency services are also on high alert amid the soaring temperatures.
"Residents are urged to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. Residents are urged to stay away from direct sunlight, especially between 11am and 3pm. Residents who are working directly in the sunlight are urged to take regular breaks as exposure to these extremely hot temperatures can cause heat exhaustion and heat cramps, which might lead to heat stroke," said Joburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.
"Young children who want to cool themselves during these extremely hot temperatures are encouraged to visit municipal swimming pools instead of swimming in river streams and dams. Municipal public swimming pools have lifeguards on site to monitor young kids while swimming."
Speaking at the briefing, Johannesburg Water's Acting General Manager for Operations Logan Munsamy said plans are in place to ensure there are no dry taps.
"We are monitoring our reservoirs and towers very intently through our 24/7 telemetry systems so that we can detect any problems in advance rather than waiting. We are enforcing levels of restrictions in terms of communities adhering to the restrictions and the usage of raw consumption."
Munsamy added that alternative measures will be deployed when there is a need.
"We have got extensive communication on the ground, our reporting system in terms of reporting leaks and bursts we are looking at that intently, and we have emergency water tanking service providers at our disposal should we run into problems.
"The heatwave conditions are always a risk. We are urging our customers to use water sparingly, to report immediately any bursts and leaks so that they can be attended to, and at the same time to adhere to the levels of the water restrictions that we have imposed."
Meanwhile, in Tshwane - residents have been warned of a water shutdown in parts of Sunnyside and the Pretoria CBD due to an emergency major leak on a large-diameter pipeline.
Spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, says the repair work is anticipated to be complete by around 5pm on Thursday afternoon.
"Residents in the supply area are cautioned that since the network will eventually be empty, it will take time for the system to fill up completely to capacity and for water supply to normalise."
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