Weekend water woes: Pretoria East reservoir runs dry

A power trip at Mapleton Booster Pumping Station is affecting water supply to Pretoria this weekend, with a Pretoria East reservoir running dry by Saturday morning.

Water levels at various reservoirs were decreasing by Friday afternoon, with Mayor Cilliers Brink saying that residents should brace for a difficult weekend.

“This weekend is going to be a difficult one for Tshwane,” he said.

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Bronberg reservoir: No weekend water

The metro announced that the Bronberg reservoir that supplies areas in the East had run dry by Saturday morning, 15 July.

Pretoria East areas affected

The following areas that are supplied by Rand Water’s Bronberg reservoir do not have water:

• Silverlakes
• Shere
• Paramount Estates
• Tygervalley
• Hazeldean
• Willow Acres
• Lombardy Estates – dry to little water left.

Water tankers deployed

“The reservoir is empty and water tankers have been deployed,” the city said in a Saturday morning Facebook post.

Brink said that large parts of Pretoria East would be affected.

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Rand Water and load shedding

“This is a problem that is recurring again and again,” said Brink.

He said the metro had asked Rand Water to be transparent with the public about the extent of their issues.

Brink noted that load shedding had an impact on water supply challenges.

However, he said there was no load shedding the weekend prior when Tshwane faced similar water supply challenges.

“My message to the people of Tshwane that will be affected this weekend is that we are not going to go away, I am not going to take the weekend off.”

Brink said that they had instructed various councillors to be ready to assist affected communities.

Fragile water supply infrastructure

He noted water shortages in Soshanguve during the week and said that the problems were expected to affect the east of Pretoria.

Brink said the issues stem from fragile infrastructure paired with high stages of load shedding.

“It creates heightened wear and tear, but as I have said in the past, it gives notice to criminals that the network is going to be off in advance.”

Brink said this led to high incidence of cable theft.

By Friday afternoon, several reservoirs were showing decreasing levels, with some nearing single-figure levels.

The Metro said the following reservoirs were expected to be impacted:

• Carina Street Reservoir
• Corobrick Plant Reservoir,
• Eersterrust Reservoir,
• Elardus Park reservoir,
• Kilner Park reservoir
• Klapperkop reservoir
• Koedoesnek reservoir
• Magalieskruin reservoir
• Mamaelodi R1 and R2 reservoirs
• Montana reservoir
• Moreleta reservoir
• Murrayfield reservoir
• Parkmore HL and LL reservoirs
• Queenswood reservoir
• Sinoville HL and LL reservoirs
• Villeria Peak reservoir
• Waverly HL and LL reservoirs
• Gasonbury Reservoir, Six Fountain Estate and Silver Willows
• Heatherly Meter
• Midas and Leander Meters
• Mooikloof reservoir
• Sammy Marks Museum meter
• Savannah Meter
• Shere Meter
• Woodlands Mall meter

Edited by Cornelia le Roux.
This article originally appeared in Pretoria Rekord and was republished with permission. Read the original article here.

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