‘We might need about a week to recover’: Water outages plague Midrand

Angry Midrand residents woke again to dry taps on Tuesday, leading them to take to the streets.

They have been forced to purchase bottled water or collect buckets of water from water tankers. They have now threatened to withhold municipal payments unless improvements are made.

Officials visited the Midrand Reservoirs on Tuesday morning, with Johannesburg Water reporting that four of the five affected reservoirs (Erand, Diepsloot, Rabie, and President Park) in the area have been opened in a controlled manner to support system recovery.

It is understood that low-lying areas will receive water, while those in high-lying areas may have to wait slightly longer.

The Grand Central Reservoir remains closed as the current levels are too low to provide a sustained supply to all dependent areas, such as Munyaka, Glen Austin, and Waterfall.

“Once we see improvement, those areas should be able to have a water supply,” said Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Dada Morero.

Johannesburg MMC for Environment and Infrastructure, Jack Sekwaila, said it will take some time to refill the entire system emptied by days of repairs.

“We might need about a week to recover,” he added

Alternative water supply continues through roaming water tankers in affected areas.