Load-shedding has not impacted the water network, Rand Water has said.
This is despite an earlier statement from Rand Water that continued stage 4 load-shedding would result in the City’s water reservoirs running dry.
Spokesperson Justice Mohale said the water supplier was closely monitoring the possible impact load-shedding might have on the city’s water supply.
“While certain municipalities within our supply area have experienced electricity infrastructure failures, these have posed no risk to our network,” said Mohale.
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He said should load-shedding levels be increased, Rand Water would communicate the impact thereof.
“Some municipalities have already advised consumers to reduce their consumption of water and the advice is duly reiterated.”
He said the bulk water network that “supplies all our customers remains stable and we are managing demand as normal”.
“Despite our ability to supply, we urge residents to use water wisely.”
Not everyone is, however, convinced that load-shedding is not affecting water supply infrastructure.
The Hillside reservoir in Menlo Park has lost countless litres of water because of four leaks over the past 10 days.
Ward councillor Siobhan Muller suspected the recent leak was a result of load-shedding.
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“There is no definite answer on what the cause of the constant leak is, but I think the reservoir is affected when the power cuts out and kicks back on due to load-shedding.”
She said the matter had been reported to the metro.
It is estimated leaks and pipe bursts cost the Tshwane metro a loss of about eight billion litres of water last year.
Muller further said other parts of the metro’s infrastructure had been badly affected by load-shedding.
“Load-shedding has been devastating … cellphone network coverage has also been badly affected.”
Utilities MMC Abel Tau could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
His predecessor, Darryl Moss told Rekord that while water leaks were a major problem, plans to mend the high leakage areas were afoot with two projects underway in the east and north of the city.
“Ageing infrastructure also forms part of the problems in areas that see a lot of leaks or bursts.
“A popular gripe of residents is how long metro repair teams would take to fix any leaking pipes.
“In some cases, leaks would go unattended for anything between 48 hours to a week – or even longer periods,” he said.
The metro had said its target was to attend to 70% of reported water leaks within 48 hours.
However, between July and December last year it had only managed a 48-hour response time in 50% of the cases.
He advised residents who had reported leaks that had not yet been repaired to contact their ward councillor.
“When it comes to the reporting of water leaks or burst pipes, there is an escalation process. It starts with the local ward councillor who must take the matter to the relevant authorities,” Moss said.
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