Today, Tuesday 18 October 2022, the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Sello Dada Morero and the MMC for EIS Clr Mpho Sesedinyane, together with the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officers of Joburg Water and City Power – Mr Ntshaveni Mukwevho and Ms Tshifularo Mashava - updated the media on the proposed interventions to address water challenges experienced in some parts of the City.
Speaking during the briefing the Managing Director for Joburg Water Mr Mukwevho explained that on Friday 23 September 2022 Rand Water experienced a power failure at their Vereeniging water works which resulted in a 50% reduction in bulk water supply to their Eikenhof pump station.
This failure happened in the early hours of the morning and was resolved at midday on the same day. Since the Eikenhof system, especially the supply to Commando Road is vulnerable, there was a negative impact on the Crosby, Brixton and Hurst Hill Supply zones in that we experienced water supply interruptions to the high laying areas. However, after the issue was resolved on 23 September 2022, the system started to recover but for it to recover fully, takes about 4 to 5 days.
He further explained that unfortunately, on Sunday morning, 25 September 2022 just after midnight there was a total power failure at the Rand Water Vereeniging works. This failure was resolved after 6 hours by Rand Water. The power failure had nothing to do with City Power which only supplies power within the City of Joburg.
On Thursday 29 September 2022, Rand Water experienced a pump trip at their Eikenhof system for about 3 hours which reduced the pump station capacity by 40%. Again, the Commando system was negatively affected as it was already vulnerable due to previous incidents. Thus, again the gains made were negatively affected.
On Friday 30 September 2022 in the early hours of the morning Rand Water had a power supply issue to their Zuikerbosh purification works which again had a 60% impact on the supply to Eikenhof for about 5 to 6 hours.
On Monday 03 October 2022 in the evening, Rand Water took 200 Ml/day supply from the Eikenhof system to boost their Palmiet system which was at a critical stage. This load shift basically affected our Commando Road supply meter and some of the reservoirs in the south of Johannesburg. The impact was that all the gains made to stabilise the system following the 30 September 2022 incident were lost.
He explained that an agreement was reached during the meeting with the minister was that the Commando supply will be prioritised. He explained that as of this morning, with the bulk supplier having supplied the required volumes for this area, the entity has started seeing signs of improvement.Furthermore, Johannesburg Water will in the next three years invest R340 million to expand the Commando system’s scope and infrastructure to ensure continuous water supply to the residents of the City of Johannesburg. We are currently working with all relevant stakeholders, including Rand Water and City Power to minimise the impact of the recent challenges.
Speaking at the same media briefing City PowJoburg CEO Ms Mashava explained that Eikenhof Substation, which supplies Rand Water, is currently supplied power by City Power from the bulk station in Fordsburg via a switching station in the Orlando. It is built inside the Rand Water premises to ensure we have a dedicated supply to the entity.
She explained that in a short-term maintenance of Orlando switching station and Eikenhof was done to ensure optimal functioning of the network. There are also plans to expedite the completion of the Mondeor project (currently at 90%) to ensure we have alternative Bulk supply to Eikenhof Substation from another Eskom bill intake - Prospect Substation.
She explained that City Power was working with Joburg Water to support it in ensuring the supply of water is not interrupted. “One of the things we are looking at is to see how to exclude them from Loadshedding. The problem currently is that most of Joburg Water facilities are embedded within our network, making it difficult to exempt them. We are also looking at partnering with them on the off-grid solutions” she concluded.
The Executive Mayor, Cllr Morero urged residents and businesses in Johannesburg to work with the City to reduce water wastage. He said that there are other innovative ways which could be utilised to avoid wasting clean fresh water. These can include rainwater harvesting and bore holes. He said that the City was looking into going to the market to raise capital to replenish the aging infrastructure.
Ends
Issued by the City of Johannesburg
Group Communication & Marketing Department
For all media queries send an email to mediaqueries@joburg.org.za
18/10/2022
