Improvements continue at Johannesburg Water’s critically affected sites

by l3rato | Mar 27, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

27 March 2023

Improvements continue at Johannesburg Water’s critically affected sites

Johannesburg Water’s Crown Gardens system, which was severely affected last week, continues to improve steadily. While the system is not yet back to optimal levels, the Entity is able to provide water flows throughout the day as inflows are coming in from Rand Water.

Although the water levels at the Crown Gardens towers have improved (tower 1 is at 4.7m and tower 2 is sitting at 4.5m) the reservoir is still struggling with 2.2m of water levels. The low-lying areas have water supply; however, the high-lying areas are getting low flows, with a few streets in Robertsham still experiencing no water. The reservoir has been opened at 100% and water supply will be monitored throughout the night.

On Monday morning, inflows from Rand Water were around 21 megalitres per day, which is above average (normal flows are 18 megalitres per day). If these flows continue, we anticipate we will be back to having normal flows by Tuesday. We have opened the Crown Gardens reservoir at 100%, and this will be monitored. If it holds, normal supply should resume from tomorrow.

Flows on the Commando system (which comprises Hursthill, Brixton and Crosby) have normalised and we are seeing flows of above 2500 megalitres per day; however, the Hursthill system is still not back to normal and is battling with capacity. Hursthill 1 is sitting at 0.5m while Hursthill 2 is almost empty at 0.2m. As a result, high-lying areas being fed by the reservoirs are getting intermittent to no water supply.

The Brixton system is stabilising, and the reservoir is opened at 50%. If these levels are constant, then there will not be a need to close the outlet overnight to build capacity. If this trajectory continues, the supply zones should start getting normal water flows by Tuesday.

The Alexander Park system is still battling and does not have normal flows. This system is situated at a higher altitude, so it is the last to recover historically. As a result, the Alexander Park high-lying zones are experiencing intermittent to no water supply.

The Entity continues to provide alternative water supply to residents with no water and poor water pressure, with 16 roaming water tankers and 12 stationary tankers deployed on Monday.

Improvements continue at Johannesburg Water’s critically affected sites – Monday 27 March 2023

Water tanker sites of areas affected by the Eikenhof system pump failure – Monday 27 March 2023

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Johannesburg Water continues providing alternative water supply while stabilising system

by l3rato | Mar 24, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

24 March 2023

Johannesburg Water continues providing alternative water supply while stabilising system

Johannesburg Water will continue providing alternative supply to areas with no water. This intervention will remain in place while the Entity’s technical teams work to stabilise the City’s systems.

Some of Johannesburg Water’s infrastructure is finally slowly starting to steady after a week of consistent monitoring. The City’s systems were severely impacted this week after a power failure at Rand Water’s Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant, as well as a pump failure at the bulk supplier’s Eikenhof pump station.

The Crown Gardens system is still critical with the reservoir at 1.6m, while both towers are still empty. No pumping can be done at this stage as the water levels are too low and can only resume when the levels get to 2.5m. The reservoir was monitored throughout the night for water flows into the reservoir, which started steadily increasing from 7am this morning.

Johannesburg Water is in communication with Rand Water and the bulk supplier is investigating its system to find the cause of the low water inflow from their infrastructure. Residents in these areas will have no water. However, Johannesburg Water continues to provide alternative supply.

The Commando system (which comprises the Brixton, Crosby, and Hursthill reservoirs and towers) is also still critical and is being closely monitored. Water levels at the Crosby reservoir dropped slightly from yesterday, however inflow was better at 558 litres per second. The reservoir was closed during the night to allow for inflow. The Brixton reservoir is also performing better than yesterday, and technicians are hoping to continue building capacity into the system. Reservoir levels at the Hursthill 1 and 2 reservoirs are still low, but inflows are improving.

The Alan Manor and Naturena reservoir levels have increased and are back to normal operations, while the Honeydew reservoir is also slowly gaining momentum, although high-lying areas might still experience poor water pressure. Boschkop is performing better than yesterday and is also on its way back to normal operation.

In Johannesburg Central, the Yeoville reservoir has maintained its levels and both its pumps are running smoothly for the second day in a row, while the water levels at Alexander Park have improved. Capacity is steadily building up at both these systems and residents should have sufficient water to sustain them.

The Entity continues to provide alternative water supply, with 17 roaming water tankers being deployed on Friday to service critical areas. Five of the ten water tankers that were roaming in the Honeydew and Boschkop areas will be moved to service the Crown Gardens zones, which remain critical.

The Helen Joseph and Rahima Moosa Mother and Child hospitals’ water supply remains at full capacity.

Johannesburg Water technical teams continue to monitor the system and further updates will be provided to customers.

• Johannesburg Water deploys 18 water tankers – Thurs morning 23 March 2023

– Water tanker sites of areas affected by the Eikenhof system pump failure – Thurs 23 March 2023

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Johannesburg Water affected by power failure at Vereeniging purification works

by l3rato | Mar 20, 2023 | 2023, Media Statement

Media Statement

20 March 2023

Johannesburg Water affected by power failure at Vereeniging purification works

Rand Water’s Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant experienced a power failure in the
early hours of Monday morning, 20 March 2023, which impacted pumping capacity
at the bulk supplier’s Eikenhof pump station for a few hours.

Subsequently, supply to several Johannesburg Water’s systems were affected,
including the Commando system (comprising the Brixton, Hursthill and Crosby
reservoirs), Waterval, Quellerina, Eagles Nest and Crown Gardens.

Furthermore, Rand Water’s Meredale reservoirs and Johannesburg Water’s Waterval
2 reservoir were left empty. Although pumping was recovered to 100% at the Eikenhof
pump station, the system is still batting to fill the reservoirs.

In Johannesburg South, the Crown Gardens reservoir has been opened to 50%
capacity so that the Entity can sustain pumping into the tower to supply water. The
Eagles Nest reservoir has been put on bypass so that excess water can be put into
reticulation, to be able to sustain supply.

Rand Water has closed the inlet into the Weltevreden reservoir to push excess water
into the Waterval reservoir, which will feed into the Quellerina and Waterval towers,
as well as the Commando system.

The Quellerina and Waterval zones should be recovered by late Monday evening.
The Commando system is the most affected and the Johannesburg Water technical
team is working around the clock to improve water supply.

After an incident such as a power failure, full recovery can take up to five to seven
days on average, provided there are no other issues that arise that will affect the
system. As such, Johannesburg Water is looking into interventions to improve the
recovery period to the Hursthill 1 system, which includes linking Hursthill 1 with a
neighbouring reservoir system.

Johannesburg Water customers are still affected by low water pressure to no water.
Alternative water supply to critical areas has been provided by Johannesburg Water.
There are eight stationary water tanks in the below areas:

• Crosby – one stationary water tank at the Crosby clinic
• Brixton – one stationary water tank at 1 Rus Road
• Brixton – two water stationary tanks at the Brixton Recreation Centre
• Coronationville – one stationary water tank at the Coronation Recreation
Centre
• Coronationville – one stationary water tank at the Slovo Informal Settlement
• Westdene – one stationary water tank at the Engen Garage
• Melville – one stationary water tank at corner First Avenue and Main Road
• Melville – one stationary water tank at corner Seventh Street and Second
Avenue

Eight roaming water tankers, roaming in the following areas:
• Robertsham
• Westbury
• Coronationville
• Newclare
• Jan Hofmeyer
• Mayfair West
• Crosby
• Westdene

Issued by: Johannesburg Water Marketing and Communication.