The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg visited residents of Bezuidenhout Valley on Saturday, 4 March 2023 to examine water supply issues. The community of Bezuidenhout Valley, east of the inner-city has been experiencing low to no water supply in recent weeks. Mayor Thapelo Amad assured residents of Bezuidenhout Valley and surrounding suburbs that their water supply would be restored soon.
The Mayor’s visit comes after Rand Water reported vandalism at one of its bulk connections to Ekurhuleni in Elandspark, south of Johannesburg on Wednesday, 22 February 2023, which forced the bulk water supplier to shut down three main lines to its Palmiet system.
As a result, Palmiet could only pump at 48% capacity, significantly reducing water supply levels. Consequently, water supply to various Johannesburg Water reservoirs, towers, and direct feeds was disrupted, resulting in reduced access to water in various suburbs.
Among the affected systems were the South Hills tower, Alexandra Park tower, and Berea tower.
Repairs began immediately, and by Saturday, 25 February 2023, the system had begun to recover. However, because water infrastructure is a massive system, the Executive Mayor explained to residents why it takes even longer to see an improvement in their water supply whenever an issue like this occurs.
“It takes hours for the purification works system to return to full capacity before water begins pumping to Rand Water’s four main booster pumping systems, which are Eikenhof, Swartkoppies, Palmiet, and Mapleton,” the Executive Mayor explained.
The system then begins to recover from the Midrand, Diepsloot, and Randjieslaagte zones first, followed by the South Hills and Alexandra Park zones. As a result, stable water supply from Alexandra Park reservoir resumed only on Thursday, 2 March and on Friday, 3 March 2023.
Rand Water’s Vereeniging purification works system also experienced several power outages in the last month, causing pumping to fail and resulting in insufficient water supply to the Yeoville, Berea, and Parktown water supply zones. Rand Water, Eskom, and the Emfuleni Municipality are collaborating to find a solution.
The Executive Mayor assured residents of Bezuidenhout Valley that water tankers would continue to supply water and that primary healthcare facilities, schools, and old-age homes would be prioritised. Joburg Water is working tirelessly to resolve the issue.
Written by Puleng Mopeli
04/03/2023