Metro asks for patience as water supply recovers slowly in north

The Tshwane metro has urged residents across Region 1, who were affected by prolonged water outages over the past two weeks to remain patient, as the water supply begins to recover.

Metro spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, said Rand Water has completed the 16-day maintenance operation on the Hartebeesthoek Reservoir.

“The cleaning, maintenance, and inspection of the Hartebeesthoek Reservoir have been completed.

“The work began on July 3 and concluded today, July 18, as originally planned,” he said.

🚨 Maintenance Update 🚨
Hartebeeshoek Reservoir – Cleaning & Statutory Inspection Completed

We are pleased to report that the cleaning and statutory inspection of the Hartebeeshoek Reservoir was successfully completed at 05:00 this morning, Friday, 18 July 2025.@CityTshwane pic.twitter.com/vzBegyMKVa

— Rand Water (@Rand_Water) July 18, 2025

Mashigo said the water utility’s team of technicians completed the work timeously, despite its scale, and the metro had dispatched roaming water tankers to affected areas during the outage.

He explained that Rand Water is currently supplying Tshwane’s reservoirs through a bypass system, while simultaneously working to fill the Hartebeesthoek Reservoir.

“According to Rand Water, supplying water directly through the reservoir at this stage would significantly delay the recovery of the network,” he said.

Both processes are now being conducted in parallel to optimise supply restoration.”

Mashigo confirmed that although the reservoirs fed by Hartebeesthoek remain empty for now, Tshwane’s internal distribution network is starting to fill up.

“Once the network is fully pressurised, the levels in the reservoirs will begin to improve,” he added.

The metro had issued an initial warning in June about the 16-day maintenance project, which was necessary to comply with dam safety regulations.

At the time, metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the work would include isolating and testing valves, draining the reservoir, installing a bypass valve, and conducting a full clean and disinfection process before restoring the supply.

The bypass valve was installed to ensure that supply interruptions were minimised in low-lying areas, though high-lying suburbs were expected to be without water for most of the period.

The metro has again called on residents, particularly in low-lying areas where supply is returning, to use water sparingly so that high-lying areas can also begin receiving water.

“Roaming water tankers will remain in service until supply has been fully restored, and the city apologises for the inconvenience caused by the essential work.”

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