This after reports surfaced on social media that a resident noticed blue water when opening the tap a few days ago. Following these reports, Joburg Water launched an investigation to establish the source of this problem. 

As such Joburg Water managed to take a sample on 01 February 2023 at Sontonga Lofts. At the time of taking the samples the water was clear and not blue. The samples were submitted to the lab for testing and results will be available later today (02 February 2023).

Furthermore, the complainant later confirmed on social media that the blue water was only at their unit which was caused by internal plumbing issue. The internal issues were resolved by a private plumber. 

Johannesburg Water is in the process of contacting the customer as well as the plumber to understand what the issue was that caused the incident.

The Executive Mayor further explained that the City of Johannesburg has been experiencing water supply challenges since the beginning of the year.

The Rand Water total reservoir storage level on 08 January 2023 was at 76%. This level started to significantly decline from 09 January 2023. 

The situation was exacerbated by power supply failures that affected the Zuikerbosch purification plant and Eikenhof pump station on 13 January 2023. 

This significantly affected the Crosby, Brixton and Hurst Hill Reservoir 1 & 2 supply zones which cover wards 58, 69, 86 and 87 in the City of Johannesburg. Below is a breakdown of some of the events that further led to the recent water challenges.

On Friday 13 January 2023, 

There were power failures that affected the Rand Water Zuikerbosch purification plant which lasted for six hours. This resulted in the plant only operating at 60% capacity during that time. On the same day, the Rand Water Eikenhof pump station was affected by a power failure of three hours. 

These events affected the Johannesburg Water Commando system which supplies the Crosby, Brixton and Hurst Hill 1 and 2 reservoirs. The high-lying areas of Hurst Hill 2 were severely affected and Melville, Parktown and Auckland Park experienced intermittent water supply.

 

On Monday 16 January 2023,

Johannesburg Water and Rand Water issued media statements on these power failures and high-water demand experienced due to high temperatures and appealed to all consumers to reduce water consumption.

The above events with higher-than-normal temperatures resulted in the Rand Water storage capacity dropping to 30% and some of their reservoirs supplying municipalities dropping to below 15%. In the case of the City of Johannesburg, the Rand Water Waterval 2 Reservoir was below the 15% mark and affected water supply into the Commando system.

On Sunday 29 January 2023, 

Rand Water experienced another power failure at their Eikenhof pump station from 4:30 am. Full power was only restored 22 hours later at 02:00 am on Monday, 30 January 2023. This incident then caused the Rand Water Waterval and Meredale Reservoirs that supply the City of Johannesburg’s western and southern areas - Randburg and Roodepoort - to drop to zero storage capacity.

During this period, Johannesburg Water continued providing residents with water through mobile water tankers and stationary tanks located at various strategic areas. 

There were 21 roaming mobile tankers in the affected areas with a further 18 stationary tanks placed at strategic points in the affected areas. Part of the Entity’s interventions included pumping water into the Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospital tanks from Monday afternoon, 30 January 2023, as and when required to sustain their supply.

Johannesburg Water’s overall communication to customers since September 2022 has been regular messaging urging them to reduce consumption, as this directly impacts on the recovery of affected systems. During this time, Johannesburg Water has issued media statements twice a day and has continuously published and updated information on their social media platforms. 

The Entity has also executed interviews on local, regional and national broadcast media platforms to provide updates on the effects of the Eikenhof pump station power failure.

Customers are also requested to report major bursts and leaks to assist with sustaining critical systems. 

Residents are reminded that stage 1 water restrictions must be adhered to, according to Section 44(3) of the Water Services By-Laws, which state that consumers are forthwith compelled to:

The Executive Mayor has also announced that the City, through Joburg Water, has invested just over R400 million which will be used over the next 18 months to build and upgrade the bulk water infrastructure especially along the Commando system (Crosby and Brixton) which is always the hardest hit by water shortages.