Johannesburg’s hot weather and load-shedding led to a drop in Johannesburg Water’s ability to fill reservoirs and towers, leaving residents in high-lying areas with low pressure and in some cases no water at all.
Infuriated residents took to social media to complain and vent as they battle with no water and high temperatures.
“Please help us. We live in Coronationville and have been without water for two weeks. We are constantly being told the reservoir has to fill up; we are beyond helpless. I have logged numerous calls but to no avail. We are pleading for help,” tweeted Vanessa Merckel early on Monday.
“The problem is this morning our Eikenhof pump station went down and was affected by the trips that affected the Commando system. This was also compounded by high demand in that area,” said Johannesburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli.
“We are doing what we can to help residents and have sent water tankers to those areas.”
The latest Johannesburg Water update gives the status of the Commando system — the towers and reservoirs that supply Hursthill, Brixton and Crosby — as “critically low”.
The Helderkruin reservoir is also “critically low”, and customers were urged to reduce consumption.
The Honeydew system was rated the worst, at “critically low to empty”, with both the area’s reservoir and tower being extremely constrained and urgent appeals to consumers to reduce consumption before supply is completely used.
Johannesburg Water communications manager Ndumiso Mabuza said “critically low” meant pumps were not working at full capacity in a system that involved drawing water from Rand Water to reservoirs, on to towers and then out to taps.
“Hursthill was in recovery on Thursday, but then we experienced new challenges on Sunday. Rand Water has been unable to feed us properly because of all the load-shedding and there has been another technical issue too.”
The Linden and Crown Gardens systems were also under pressure on Monday as their supplies were rated as “low but stable”, meaning that while the supply has recovered, demand on the system is high.
Ward councillors for the areas concerned were in an all-day caucus and unavailable to comment.
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Water out of taps — Joburg's new challenge as hot weather continues
'Help us' plead residents as Hursthill taps run dry for days on end
Image: Melissa Alexander
Johannesburg’s hot weather and load-shedding led to a drop in Johannesburg Water’s ability to fill reservoirs and towers, leaving residents in high-lying areas with low pressure and in some cases no water at all.
Infuriated residents took to social media to complain and vent as they battle with no water and high temperatures.
“Please help us. We live in Coronationville and have been without water for two weeks. We are constantly being told the reservoir has to fill up; we are beyond helpless. I have logged numerous calls but to no avail. We are pleading for help,” tweeted Vanessa Merckel early on Monday.
“The problem is this morning our Eikenhof pump station went down and was affected by the trips that affected the Commando system. This was also compounded by high demand in that area,” said Johannesburg Water spokesperson Puleng Mopeli.
“We are doing what we can to help residents and have sent water tankers to those areas.”
The latest Johannesburg Water update gives the status of the Commando system — the towers and reservoirs that supply Hursthill, Brixton and Crosby — as “critically low”.
The Helderkruin reservoir is also “critically low”, and customers were urged to reduce consumption.
The Honeydew system was rated the worst, at “critically low to empty”, with both the area’s reservoir and tower being extremely constrained and urgent appeals to consumers to reduce consumption before supply is completely used.
Johannesburg Water communications manager Ndumiso Mabuza said “critically low” meant pumps were not working at full capacity in a system that involved drawing water from Rand Water to reservoirs, on to towers and then out to taps.
“Hursthill was in recovery on Thursday, but then we experienced new challenges on Sunday. Rand Water has been unable to feed us properly because of all the load-shedding and there has been another technical issue too.”
The Linden and Crown Gardens systems were also under pressure on Monday as their supplies were rated as “low but stable”, meaning that while the supply has recovered, demand on the system is high.
Ward councillors for the areas concerned were in an all-day caucus and unavailable to comment.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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