No hope for quick fix say Joburg Water

Johannesburg Water (JW) is in many ways at the mercy of Rand Water (RW) due to their reliance on them for supply. When RW has a problem, so does the City of Johannesburg.

But they can’t blame RW for poor maintenance of ageing infrastructure, the loss of water through leaks, load-shedding, irregular meters, the weather, water user behaviour nor other considerations.

During a briefing to the press, senior networks manager Logan Munsamy shared JW plans and mitigation strategies to regularise the water situation in the city which include:

• Improving existing infrastructure to prevent leaks and lost water
• Smart meters
• Improved water pressure management
• 15 additional storage reservoirs and towers
• Additional water purification capacity
• Stand-by generators at pump stations

It will take several years for this to all be operational, so no quick fix is on the horizon for those who are suffering the most.

At the end of the day, he says, “We need residents to change their behaviour when it comes to using water if we are going to make headway, especially in these warmer months with level 1 restrictions in place.”

Westdene residents feel shortages acutely:

“We no longer believe anything the city or government says anymore. This is not a nice way to live,” says Gen de Freitas (74) who lives in Westdene with her husband.

They are finding life increasingly difficult with water outages to contend with on top of load-shedding.

“Compared to so many we are so much better off as we do occasionally have power and water, but it is tough at the moment, I can’t lie.”

She said of her husband, “He wakes up at 02:00 to do the washing or whatever chore we could not do during the day like cleaning the toilet and mopping the floor as the water goes quickly then. We must plan our lives with a schedule – one for water and the other for load-shedding.”

Residents of Jan Hofmeyer at crisis point, again

Yola Minnaar is a community volunteer in nearby Jan Hofmeyer, an area that goes without piped water for months at a time and is distraught.

“This situation is not just inconvenient; it’s impacting our health. Many of us are developing hernias from carrying these heavy water containers, and access to medical care is further hindered because we can’t rely on our taps for running water.”

She says that despite access to water being a fundamental human right, “It feels deeply unjust that certain areas are made to endure this hardship while others do not.”

“Last year, we endured a staggering seven consecutive months without water. It was only after our community protested that we finally saw the return of water, but the issues didn’t stop there.”

“We’re now again without water for nearly two months, and the situation is growing increasingly dire. Our neighbourhood, with its numerous old age homes, struggles daily with the arduous task of lugging water buckets, which is especially challenging for the elderly and families with infants.”

“Basic necessities like washing, feeding babies, and managing laundry have become not only costly but also physically demanding. Even sending our children to school has become problematic due to the need for clean school clothing.”

“We firmly believe there must be a solution beyond the government’s explanations of overcrowding and overconsumption, issues that they themselves have allowed to escalate. Our neighbourhood has witnessed significant growth in student accommodations, yet our reports and objections have seemingly fallen on deaf ears. It appears that the government is permitting businesses, flats, and student housing without adequately considering the capacity of our infrastructure.”

She also laments City Power outages and load-shedding as also making life increasingly hard.

She ends by saying, “We are in desperate need of a solution and are seeking answers as to why only specific streets in certain areas are suffering such severe consequences. We simply cannot endure another seven months of this ordeal. Just imagine if it were your loved ones enduring this hardship.”

It has been a nightmare

Paulie van Dyk (56) also from Westdene on Second Street has had to install a water backup system.

“Being up the hill, we are always completely without water or with a trickle so small it is virtually useless.”

She has a JoJo-style tank that is linked to the water mains. It fills up with water and then pumps it into the house taps and refills when next the area has municipal water. “We had to do this in order to use our washing machine or gas geyser because it won’t heat the water unless there is a certain amount of water pressure.”

“I could not continue without water, but I am lucky in that one of my neighbours was able to install it at a discount because it is not cheap.”

“It is a good way to mitigate Johannesburg Waters’s inability to provide us with this basic need that I don’t see them being able to in the future if I am honest.”

JMPD were contacted about the monitoring of by-laws as they relate to Level 1 water restrictions but had not received a response at the time of going to print.

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