A number of towns and rural areas in the district — which includes holiday towns like Port Edward, Port Shepstone and Margate — are without water in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Gustav Butlex)
Johannesburg Water has warned all residents of the city that a planned shutdown of their main bulk water supplier, Rand Water, will take place for 54 hours on June 24. This will affect all reservoirs and towers in terms of water supply.
Rand Water supplies water to most of the province.
The shutdown is because maintenance has to be done on the massive B11 pipeline, which runs from Lethabo to Vereeniging pumping station. A 2 500mm butterfly valve has to be installed into the pipeline and this will result in water limitations.
Johannesburg Water issued a statement on Tuesday saying that, while the maintenance will affect water in lots of areas, it does not mean that there will be no water. Instead, there will be low water pressure and water shortages in some areas.
No specific areas have been named by the water department, the statement said: “The shutdown will also affect a number of municipalities across the Gauteng Province and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Johannesburg Water appeals to all residents of the City of Johannesburg to use water sparingly during the shutdown in order to avoid a complete no-water situation and reminds all that level 1 water restrictions are still in place,” the statement added.