A double whammy for Joburg residents
The utilities urged consumers to use water and electricity sparingly, a plea that left many people and businesses frustrated
SOUTH Africans are dealing with a double blow of a lack of water and electricity since power utility Eskom implemented load shedding stage 5 and 6 this week.
The utilities urged consumers to use the resources (water and electricity) sparingly, a plea that left many people and businesses frustrated.
Rand Water said it was battling to maintain supply to certain parts of Johannesburg during the power cuts.
Johannesburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli said it was making substantial headway towards restoring water supply in areas affected by the power failure on Sunday.
She said by yesterday morning, the water level of the Rand Water system was at 39%, which is 8% higher than was the case on Tuesday.
Mopeli said Johannesburg South continued to be stable, and technical teams were monitoring the system to ensure that this could be sustained.
She said the Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospitals had 50% and 65% water levels, respectively, yesterday morning.
“Water flow into the hospitals is constantly being supplemented by regular pumping through water tankers.” Mopeli said the Linden 1 reservoir had seen some improvement, but the supply pressure was still minimal.
She said the Helderkruin zone in Roodepoort was also showing improvement, but was being affected by the ongoing power outages.
“Nonetheless, the reservoir is out of critically low levels,” Mopeli said.
She said arrangements would be made to move water tankers from areas with a steady water supply to those that were still struggling.
Some schools in Johannesburg had to send learners home for two days this week owing to the lack of water.
One private school issued a communication saying that it had taken alternative measures to provide water
for staff and learners, and they were expected back to school today.
“Just a brief update on the current situation on campus: As of 1.30pm today (Wednesday), we do not yet have running water on campus. However, we are receiving reports from areas around us that water is starting to return. The only official communication we have obtained so far comes from the Johannesburg Water Twitter page, stating that it could take up to 72 hours for the system to return to normal. Three hours ago, the Crown Gardens Reservoir (which feeds our area) was still empty. We will continue to monitor the situation on campus and communicate with you again about plans for Thursday,” the
school said.
A parent told The Star that the water issue was a concern but they were pleased that the school had made efforts to get learners to return to school.
Water expert Professor Anja du Plessis said energy and water have always been intertwined, the same as electricity, water and food were also intertwined.
“What we are currently seeing is basically the collapse of infrastructure. I know that both Rand Water and Johannesburg Water are asking consumers to use less. It’s the same as Eskom asking people to use less electricity. If we don’t have water to use, how can we use less?” Du Plessis said.
GIFT of the Givers has once again stepped up to the plate, this time by donating water to the Kalafong Hospital in Gauteng amid the water woes in the province.
Gauteng community liaison officer Cliffort Mabe said the hospital and surrounding areas had been hit by a water outage, resulting in the hospital’s reservoir running empty.
“It seems like Rand Water is experiencing a decline in reservoir storage. Our team delivered nearly 2 000 five-litre bottles of water for patients, as they need water, especially for taking their medication,” Mabe said.
The organisation has also set about digging trenches and doing other work at the Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph hospitals.
Rand Water explained that its system was extremely sensitive to power outages and that it could take a minimum of four hours to recover after an outage.
“The reservoir storage level had, as a result, dropped to 63% when the system recovered.
“The drop in water storage level in the reservoir resulted in Rand Water requesting municipalities to reduce their consumption to retain as much
water in the reservoirs and ensure the system does not drop to a point of crushing and almost impossible recovery,” said Rand Water’s Makenosi Maroo.
She said power outages remained one of the biggest threats to the stability of Rand Water’s networks, as it affected continuous water supply to municipalities.
Maroo said Rand Water systems had started stabilising pumping at maximum capacity.
“Full recovery, however, will be dependent on less frequent power failures. In the meantime, Rand Water urges all consumers to use water wisely to assist in the system’s full recovery.”
Meanwhile, Eskom has implemented varying stages of load shedding for the remainder of the week. |