UPDATE: Operations resume at Johannesburg Water’s Yeoville reservoir

by l3rato | Mar 30, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

30 March 2023

UPDATE: Operations resume at Johannesburg Water’s Yeoville reservoir

Operations have resumed at Johannesburg Water’s Yeoville reservoir after operational challenges that resulted in the pump station flooding.

The pump station is also operational, but not at full capacity.

Consequently, certain areas in the Yeoville tower zone have had no water to intermittent water supply, including Yeoville, Berea, Bertrams, Bezuidenhout Valley, Parktown, Westcliff, and parts of Linksfield.

The Entity’s technical teams worked around the clock to solve the issue. They have since managed to drain water from the pump station, and one pump is now operating.

Although water supply has been restored, we appeal to residents to be patient as it usually takes a few hours for the system to fully recover and for the water supply to be restored to households.

Roaming water tankers are still on-site providing water to residents in the supply zone who are not yet receiving water or have low pressure.

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Issued by: Johannesburg Water Communication and Marketing.

Johannesburg Water embarks on urgent intervention to link Hurstill and Northcliff reservoirs to boost water supply

by l3rato | Mar 29, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media statement

29 March 2023

Johannesburg Water embarks on urgent intervention to link Hurstill and Northcliff reservoirs to boost water supply

In efforts to resolve the poor water supply affecting the Hurstill 1 reservoir, Johannesburg Water’s (JW) Langlaate Depot has embarked on an urgent intervention to resolve the poor water supply. The project is expected to start on Saturday, 1 April.

After conducting the necessary modelling, it was determined that it is possible to link the two systems so that the Northcliff reservoir – which is stable and has enough bulk supply – can boost the struggling Hurstill 1 reservoir.

“We have put out an urgent Request For Quotation to address the Hurstill No.1 reservoir distribution network. The situation of water supply has deteriorated to a level where the reservoir runs empty regularly due to Rand Water supply challenges. A site briefing for service providers took place on Wednesday, 22 March,” said William Chitsa, Johannesburg Water’s General Manager for Capex.

The service provider is mainly to support the internal JW team in undertaking “under-pressure” drilling on both ends and comply with the associated environmental, health and safety measures to ensure works are done in a safe manner.

“In order to improve water supply, a 315mm diameter water pipe link has to be installed between the existing 600mm diameter and 450mm diameter distribution steel pipes. The link will be installed at the intersection of Long Road and Eighth Street in Newlands,” added Chitsa.

The scope required is that of ‘under-pressure” drilling (which means doing tie-ins without closing the water supply) on both the existing 600mm diameter steel pipe on one side of the link pipe (along Long Road) and also on the existing 450mm diameter steel pipe on the other end of the link.

It must be noted that JW’s operations team will install the link, which is approximately 20m 315 mm diameter uPVC pipe and provide the 315mm diameter and 250mm diameter gate valves that will be required on both sides of the link.

This intervention is an interim measure from JW’s infrastructure perspective, so that there will be stable and convenient water supply in the Commando System (comprising Brixton, Crosby and Hurstill).

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Johannesburg Water: significant improvements over the last 24 hours

by l3rato | Mar 29, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

29 March 2023

Johannesburg Water: significant improvements over the last 24 hours

Johannesburg Water systems are performing much better this week after experiencing low water supply since last week and by Thursday, all the systems should be stabilised.

Overall, the reservoirs and towers have shown significant improvement over the last 24 hours and should be back to normal operations.

The Crown Gardens system has recovered fully compared to Tuesday. Parts of Robertsham, like the high-lying areas, are still experiencing low pressure, but as the system stabilises, the water supply will improve.

In the last 48 hours, the Commando system has been stable while enjoying an inflow of 2800 kilolitres per hour, which is an improvement from yesterday’s 2600 kilolitres. Inflow at the Crosby reservoir is sitting at 0.62m with healthy inflows at 580 litres per second. This is because of Rand Water’s Waterval 2 reservoir sitting at between 45 and 50%. The aim is to fill it up to 70%, which should assist the Crosby reservoir.

The Brixton reservoir is sitting at 2.6m, compared to Tuesday’s 2.2m, with 239 litres of inflow per second. The reservoir has been stable for over 24 hours and by 10am on Wednesday, it had been opened to 100% capacity. This will help Jan Hofmeyer, Vrededorp, Mayfair West and surrounding areas with improved water supply.

The Hursthill system is still critical and experiencing low levels, with Hursthill 1 sitting at 0.74m with better inflows of 149 litres per second compared to yesterday’s 121 litres per second. Hursthill 2 reservoir is sitting at 0.39m and is still experiencing low inflows with 105 litres per second. Historically, the Hursthill 2 reservoir inlet is lower than Hursthill 1, therefore there should be more inflow than Hursthill 1, which is currently not happening. Technical teams are investigating the cause behind this so that capacity can start building at the reservoirs. The aim is to fill the reservoirs to at least 1m – 1.5m storage capacity in both.

The Entity will continue supplying stationary and roaming tankers.

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Normal operations resume at Johannesburg Water’s Crown Gardens

by l3rato | Mar 28, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

28 March 2023

Normal operations resume at Johannesburg Water’s Crown Gardens

As at Tuesday morning, 28 March, Johannesburg Water’s Crown Gardens system had improved overnight.

Since opening the reservoir to 100%, the Entity has managed to sustain capacity. We experienced a positive trajectory in the last 12 to 18 hours and will continue monitoring the system. If the same positive patterns continue, with no interruptions to the system, normal operations should resume by Wednesday. Robertsham is also stable, except a few streets in the high-lying areas which will still be affected by poor pressure.

The Commando system (comprising Crosby, Brixton and Hursthill) showed progress after it had been struggling with water supply for the last week.

In the last 24 hours, the system has enjoyed an average flow of 2600 kilolitres of water inflows per hour, which meant that the Brixton reservoir could be kept open overnight. If these average inflows continue with no interruptions to the system, the Brixton reservoir can be opened at 100% and the system should go back to normal in the next four to five days. This will bring much-needed relief to Jan Hofmeyer residents and will allow for capacity to build at the Hursthill 2 system, which has been the most critical.

Ten roaming trucks and 12 stationary water tankers have been supplied to critical areas.

Normal operations resume at Johannesburg Water’s Crown Gardens – Tues morning 28 March 2023 Water tanker sites of areas affected by the Eikenhof system pump failure – Tues 28 March 2023

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