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Councillors have warned of bigger outages, that could run for more than a week still, ahead.
Image used for illustration. Picture: iStock
Johannesburg Water has announced an ongoing unplanned outage that began on 30 April.
In its initial update, the unplanned maintenance had no estimated time for completion.
“The Illovo systems remain open at 50%, with closure late evening to early morning to help boost the reservoir’s capacity,” stated Johannesburg Water in an update on Thursday morning.
“Both the valve and pipe have been fully exposed, and leaks have been detected on the bypass,” it said.
Joburg Water said it is necessary due to repairs to a 600mm pipe.
Residents in the area will experience low to no water supply during the maintenance period.
Johannesburg Water stated that the repair work will enhance service delivery and continuity of water.
In the official communication, Johannesburg Water acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the outage and assured residents that measures were in place to mitigate the impact of the outage.
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Speaking to The Citizen, a councillor covering most of the affected areas said that it was impacting mainly the high-lying properties, “and not to a great extent.”
Another councillor said the outage is related to the burst on Pretoria Street in Sandton CBD.
“They have been able to complete most of the work without having to turn water off. Residents have had water, maybe slightly reduced pressure for the last 6 days or so,” said Andrew Stewart.
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Region B ward councillor Martin Williams said a far more extensive outage was ahead after the affected pipe was exposed and leaks were detected.
“They will need to drain the [Illovo] system completely in order to carry out this [repair] work.
“The draining will take about three days, starting on Friday. The actual repair is expected to be done in less than a day.
“It will take two or more days to fill up again. And about a week to stabilise,” Williams said.
Williams said that because of gravity, the high-lying areas will be the first to lose water and the last to recover.
Water tanks and tankers are set to be provided.
Stewart said that after much concern, councillors in the affected areas were now confident that the issue would be fixed.
“We will monitor how well they distribute JoJo tanks and water tankers for people, as this has been a big problem ever since water outages started to become normal in Johannesburg.”
In addition, some parts of region E will experience water outages on Thursday. The maintenance began at 8am and has no scheduled completion time.
Residents in these regions will experience low to no water supply during the maintenance period.
According to the water service, Riverclub, Parkmore and Springhill will be affected by the outage.
“Further details regarding alternative water supply will be provided,” the utility mentioned.
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