Johannesburg residents are being urged to brace themselves for a difficult and uneven week as parts of the metro face low water pressure and intermittent outages following major bulk water maintenance.
City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero said the disruption, which could see some households without water for up to seven days, stems from the final phase of planned maintenance by Rand Water at the Eikenhof Pump Station.
“This is essential work on critical bulk water infrastructure that supports the city’s long-term water security,” he said.
Upgrades unavoidable
“While the inconvenience is regrettable, these upgrades are necessary to improve reliability and sustainability.”
The 54-hour maintenance, which runs from 4am on Tuesday, January 6, to 8am on Thursday, January 8, will significantly reduce the volume of water supplied into Johannesburg Water’s network.
Reservoirs expected to be affected include Roodepoort Deep, Fleurhof, Doornkop, Meadowlands 1 and 2, and Braamfischer, raising the risk of outages in several communities.
Morero cautioned residents not to expect an immediate return to normal supply once pumping resumes.
“The system does not recover instantly after maintenance ends,” he said.
Contingency measures in place
“Our infrastructure requires at least seven days to stabilise. And residents may continue experiencing low pressure or outages during that recovery period.”
The city, working closely with Johannesburg Water, has activated contingency measures to soften the impact. These include managing reservoir levels ahead of time and placing response teams on standby. As well as supplying alternative water through stationary and roaming tankers.
“We have put extensive operational plans in place to support affected communities,” he said.
“Water tankers will be deployed where needed, and communication with residents remains a top priority.”
Sewage in water issue resolved
The maintenance update comes as Johannesburg continues to manage the fallout from a recent cross-contamination incident in Bezuidenhout Valley. There, a burst steel water pipe near a sewer manhole allowed sewage to enter a damaged water line late last month.
Morero said the city responded swiftly once residents reported a sewage smell in their water.
“As a precaution, we advised residents not to use the water. [We] removed water meters, and deployed tankers immediately,” he said.
“Repairs were completed, the system was flushed. And multiple rounds of laboratory testing were conducted.”
While initial test results showed non-compliance across all sampling points, subsequent testing confirmed steady improvement.
Affected areas identified, testing continues
“The affected area has now been narrowed down. And only two of the seven sampling points are still below the minimum SANS 241 drinking water standards,” he said.
Johannesburg Water’s acting senior Manager Gugulethu Quma gave more details. She added that the maintenance is scheduled for a number of days. This was because different reservoirs perform differently, depending on demand, she said.
Further flushing and bulk dosing are underway as an added precaution.
As Johannesburg enters a testing seven-day recovery period, Morero appealed for patience. He stressed that the temporary discomfort is aimed at protecting the city’s water future.
