Heat wave blamed as taps run dry

WATER-panicked Johannesburg residents can breathe easier — the dry taps in parts of the city are not due to the countrywide drought, but are the result of the heat wave.

Affected residents stocked up on bottled water yesterday, precipitating a scramble that saw some supermarkets running out of supplies.

Johannesburg Water said yesterday it had started pumping water into several areas after three major storage reservoir towers ran dry, leaving residents in areas such as Brixton, Westdene, Coronationville and Greenside without water.

This is despite Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane telling Johannesburg residents last week they did not have to worry about water shortages as the countrywide drought was not expected to hit the city soon.

The city said yesterday it had dispatched water tanks to affected areas including Langlaagte, Southdale and Ennerdale. Water bowsers were also sent to Crown Gardens, Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa hospitals, all of which had to postpone nonemergency operations due to the water shortages.

Department of Water and Sanitation spokesman Mlimandlela Ndamase said Gauteng had not been hit by the drought affecting the rest of the country. The Vaal River that supplies water to parts of Johannesburg was “84% full”, he said.

Mr Ndamase ascribed the shortages to the heat wave, saying an unusually high demand had led to high water consumption, which had resulted in high areas running dry.

“There’s no pressure … the reservoirs cannot build up enough capacity in order to push up the water to high-lying areas,” said Mr Ndamase.

Last week, KwaZulu-Natal‚ Free State‚ North West and Limpopo were declared disaster areas. On Monday, Johannesburg announced the implementation of level two water restrictions, meant to reduce water supply to different areas at different times to curb loss.

Anthony Turton from the Water Stewardship Council Trust of SA, said as Gauteng received its water from droughtaffected areas such as the Tugela River in KwaZulu-Natal and the Lesotho Highlands, it was not unaffected by the drought.

Water shortages and the drought would expose weaknesses in the infrastructure that would “humble all of us”.

“We are more vulnerable than we are being led to believe,” he said.

Democratic Alliance health spokesman Jack Bloom said the water shortage compromised hygiene and care at Rahima Moosa Hospital and Helen Joseph Hospital. The tanks the city supplied to the hospitals were insufficient.

The city had been affected by chronic issues such as water leakages and underinvestment in water infrastructure. “It’s too easy to blame high water demand,” said Mr Bloom.