Rand Water limits flow to six municipalities to protect system

It also urges consumers to reduce consumption,

14 October 2022 - 22:28
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Rand Water says it will reduce flows to six municipalities it supplies in order to stabilise and avoid the emptying of the reservoirs and complete system crash. Stock photo.
Rand Water says it will reduce flows to six municipalities it supplies in order to stabilise and avoid the emptying of the reservoirs and complete system crash. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/Weerapat Kiatdumrong

Rand Water says it will be implementing flow control management at its reservoirs from 8pm on Friday until the system recovers, after increased water consumption in the parts it supplies.

The utility, which supplies water to Gauteng and other provinces, said it was taking this measure to stabilise and avoid the emptying of the reservoirs and a complete system crash.

“This measure will ensure that Rand Water takes full control of water supply and no longer relies on the consumers to reduce consumption.”

It said intermittent water supply may be expected in many areas within the Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Rand West, Mogale City and Rustenburg municipalities.

“To avoid the intermittent water supply, consumers must reduce their consumption. We recommend that municipalities impose water restrictions through their bylaws and effectively police their implementation.”

Rand Water said since the beginning of spring, its bulk water provision to municipalities has increased from an average of 4,300-million litres a day to 4,900-million litres.

There are about 17-million people in the municipalities it supplies water to.

“On average, water consumption in Gauteng per person per day is over 300 litres against a world's average of 173 litres per person per day.”

To safeguard the integrity of the system and to ensure continued water supply, it said it had earlier imposed a water supply reduction of 30% to ensure there was enough water in the reservoirs to mitigate, among others, intermittent supply.

“Despite this, water consumption continues to rise, and reservoirs' levels continue to decrease because of even higher water usage.

“To stabilise and avoid the emptying of the reservoirs and complete system crash, Rand Water will further apply the flow control management of its reservoirs.”

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