Update on water restrictions and drought

November saw good rainfall throughout the City of Johannesburg, but despite this, the drought conditions are not over.

According to the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment and Infrastructure Services, councillor Anthony Still, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) is not yet in a position to lift the Level 2 water restrictions. “I call on our residents to continue doing everything possible to conserve water and cut back their usage during these challenging times,” Still said.

Johannesburg does not have any local water storage and is supplied (as is most of Gauteng) by Rand Water from the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS). Johannesburg Water (JW) is merely a distributor of water and can hold water supplies for 24 to 30 hours only.

Good news is that the storage level of the IVRS has improved marginally, from 49 per cent to 52 per cent – with the Vaal Dam’s level rising from 27 per cent to 37 per cent. This marginal rise is mainly because of the release from the Sterkfontein Dam and not necessarily from rain in the catchment area. Because of this, drought restrictions are here to stay.

The system will have to be allowed to recover substantially before the Department of Water Affairs will allow restrictions to be lifted.

A reminder of what the Level 2 restrictions include: no use of irrigation or sprinkler systems at any time (unless supplied by a borehole), only hand watering allowed before 6am and after 6pm and no washing of paved surfaces with a hose. In addition, there is a surcharge on the tariff for higher water users. To date, more than 500 households have been fined for not adhering to these restrictions.

According to Still, most of the residents in the CoJ have managed to reduce their consumption, which in turn has enabled JW to meet the required water reduction set by Rand Water. Some issues are still faced in some of the supply areas – especially high-lying areas – due to reduced pressure and the challenge of pumping water into the reservoirs.

Although Roodepoort and surrounding areas have not been affected by water cuts yet, there are still areas where there is a high demand that has resulted in reservoir levels becoming critically low. To allow these reservoirs to recover, some areas experience water cuts at night, from 8pm to 4am of the following morning.

“In most of these areas, the underlying problem is not uncontrolled water leaks but an excessive number of on-property leaks. Residents are urged to take steps to repair these leakages within their houses and properties,” Still said.

“We thank the residents of the CoJ for reducing their water demand and allowing us to meet the overall restriction requirements.

We know this process of adjusting the system has caused some residents inconvenience and we apologise for this, and thank you for your patience,” Still said.

Residents are reminded to understand the severity of the water situation and to do everything in their power to conserve water. “If everyone does his/ her part, we can make a real difference and ensure our water supply is maintained,” he concluded.

Also Read:

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Use water sparingly, urges Rand Water