Joburg Water’s plans to ensure ‘Water for All’
Joburg Water urges residents to use water sparingly during water week.
Johannesburg Water joined the Department of Water and Sanitation to celebrate National Water Month in conjunction with World Water Day, which is spearheaded by the United Nations.
The theme for this is ‘Water for All’, according to the spokesperson for Johannesburg Water Nombuso Shabala. She says they urge South Africans to use water sparingly to ensure water for all.
Water Month is aimed at educating residents about taking responsibility for water conservation initiatives, raising awareness, and protecting water resources.
“We also want to encourage positive behavioural changes in our residents, which we hope to achieve through these kinds of campaigns. Water is a precious resource that’s essential for life and the functioning of our households, businesses, and environment. However, an uninterrupted water supply is under increasing strain due to climate change, population growth, infrastructure challenges, non-paying customers, and illegal water connections, among others.
“As a result, it is our collective responsibility to take proactive measures to ensure the sustainable use of water resources for current and future generations. This calls for urgent measures to conserve water resources because the responsibility falls on every one of us to do our part in safeguarding this invaluable asset.”
While addressing the constant water leaks and complaints in the area, Shabala said they are working tirelessly to mediate the problem.
She said plans are in place to alleviate water supply issues. One of these mitigation strategies is the entity’s water conservation and water demand management strategy, which includes addressing the repairing of leaking reservoir and tower infrastructure, repairing and replacement of zonal bulk meters, active and passive leak detection, and removal of wasteful devices among others.
Michael van Zyl from Jukskei Park isn’t sold on the campaign or JW’s promises and said, “They lack some sense of urgency. When you report a leakage it takes hours and in most cases, days to fix. I believe that water is going to be a bigger issue than Eskom because at least when you do not have power, you can get backups like generators etc. but with water, it means you should go buy. It has also become a money-making machine because water is expensive. It is sad for the poor, they are the ones to suffer the most.”
Ward 94 councillor David Foley said the Fourways areas have been saved from the disastrous state of the water issues as compared to Randburg areas recently. He said the biggest challenge in Fourways is the old asbestos pipes which should have been replaced 20 years ago but were not, due to budget constraints.
“Also, as the area develops, the pressure needs to increase. The pipes cannot take the required pressures and they burst in the middle of the night when the pressure is at its highest. The repairs then take a while until water is restored, impacting residents and businesses respectively.”
Related article: Johannesburg Water set aside a budget to address the problem of ageing water infrastructure in Fourways
