Johannesburg - A series of unusual and unexpected events left Joburg, Ekurhuleni and Mogale City residents without water for the past week.
Speaking at a media conference on Monday, City Power head of operations Louis Pieterse said a technical fault at Orlando had led to a loss of power at the Eikenhof pumping station, which supplies water to more than 40 percent of Joburg.
The standby generator, which was installed in November last year, did not kick in as it was faulty. “We did a number of tests on it and decided not to commission it because of the faults, and that is why it did not kick in. We will be removing it and replacing it with a brand new one, but this will take about 14 days,” he said.
“During the 14 days there could be further water cuts should there be technical problems again, but it is unlikely as the systems have all been tested,” Pieterse said.
And to add to the problem was the theft of Eskom equipment from the Palmiet pump station, near Meyersdal, on Monday morning, an unrelated incident, he said.
The electricity there was restored at about 4pm on Monday and water should be restored sometime on Tuesday, depending on the level of water in the closest reservoirs, said Pieterse.
Areas that would still be without water on Tuesday in Joburg were Hursthill, Westdene and Sophiatown.
Ekurhuleni head of water Phil Mashoko said the Palmiet crash had resulted in Benoni, Brakpan, Germiston and Daveyton being without water.
“But we have roaming water tankers driving around, supplying people with water,” he said. An added problem was that residents and businesses were in panic mode and were drawing water excessively, said Mashoko.
He said tankers would be sent to hospitals, schools and shopping malls where necessary.
Eskom was initially blamed for the electricity outage restored on Monday, but denies responsibility.
“Eskom has engaged with Johannesburg Water and City Power to resolve the matter, as this is in City Power’s jurisdiction. We would like to apologise for the misunderstanding and urge customers not to report this issue to Eskom’s contact centre,” Eskom spokesman Reneiloe Semenya said earlier on Monday.
“We are appealing to all residents to use water sparingly, because if the demand continues to increase, the reservoirs and water towers are going to run very low, resulting in no water in some areas,” said spokeswoman Millicent Kabwe.
The DA blamed Rand Water and City Power for the problems.
Councillor David Potter said Rand Water, as bulk supplier of water to the City of Joburg and Ekurhuleni, did not see itself directly accountable to the residents and accused it of keeping residents and businesses in the dark.
“This highlights some very serious issues, such as the lack of back-up power provision in the system for bulk water and the lack of communication to the residents from bulk suppliers to the city and on to the residents. It has to be recognised that we are in the middle of a serious crisis and we have hardly heard about it.
“The supply of water being a basic need to the residents should be given attention by the authorities, and better emergency planning has to be introduced as a matter of urgency,” Potter said.
The Star