The water crisis at Gauteng hospitals has been worsened by thunderstorms that ripped through the province this week.
This is according to the province’s department of health, which on Wednesday said it was monitoring the water supply at various hospitals affected by water shortages.
Water utilities, Rand Water and Johannesburg Water, sent out notices of the impact of severe thunderstorms on their infrastructure around midnight on Tuesday.
Rand Water said its Zuikerbosch water treatment plant power lines were
affected, while Johannesburg Water indicated that its water systems have also been
impacted by a power failure at the same treatment plant.
Motalatale Modiba, spokesperson for the department of health, said due to the challenges experienced by Rand Water which affected numerous areas including Germiston in Ekurhuleni, Bertha Gxowa Hospital experienced water shortages on Wednesday morning.
Modiba added that the situation improved later in the afternoon as water started flowing in
from the municipal line.
Unpacking the serious impact of the water challenges, Modiba said the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital is still relying on roving water tankers from Johannesburg Water and the facility’s two boreholes.
“Pholosong Hospital in Ekurhuleni and Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg are now
back to normal as the water supply has been restored,” he said.
He said the department activated contingency measures and continues to work with local authorities and water utilities to mitigate against the negative impact of water outages.
Taps ran dry at Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph and Pholosong hospitals last week.
The department of health confirmed on Tuesday that a blockage in water supply to the three hospitals was stabilised at the weekend.
Modiba added that the Pholosong Hospital in Ekurhuleni started receiving water from the municipal supply line on Monday morning.
However, the healthcare facility still did not receive full water pressure, he said.
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