No water in Ekurhuleni

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File photo

Published Sep 20, 2014

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Johannesburg - The water supply in parts of Ekurhuleni has been switched off on Saturday, to allow a reservoir to fill, the municipality said.

“We have today (Saturday) closed water from 2pm to 5pm in order allow the reservoir to fill up,” said spokesman Themba Gadebe.

The areas affected were Germiston, Benoni, Etwatwa, Daveyton and Tsakane.

The water supply issues were caused by erratic bulk water supply from Rand Water and unprecedented high water demand driven by hot weather and panic storage of water in large quantities.

“Engineers from Ekurhuleni and Rand Water are working around the clock to restore and stabilise the water supply as soon as possible,” said Gadebe.

He urged consumers to use water sparingly by avoiding irrigation, washing of cars, using hose pipes and filling of swimming pools.

“The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality will ensure that roving water tankers are dispatched to all areas experiencing low water pressure and no water in various parts of the region.”

Earlier, Rand Water said other parts of Johannesburg had also experienced water shortages.

The situation had started on Monday when a power outage at the Eikenhof pumping station meant water could not be pumped into reservoirs, Rand Water spokesman Justice Mohale said in a statement.

He said it became difficult for the water levels to stabilise during periods of high demand.

“This resulted in Rand Water (being) unable to pump water to some of our reservoirs, supplying mainly western and south of Johannesburg, parts of the west rand and Ekurhuleni,” he said. - Sapa

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