Water has been restored to areas of Roodepoort towards and around Ruimsig, which have experienced reduced water pressure or water outages because of illegal connections at the Roodepoort depot.
Joburg Water confirmed on its Twitter page that water has been restored and any residents still without water need to contact the department with their street address and/or complex name.
Ruimisig: water supply has been restored in the area, please provide us with street names and complex names where you still don't have water
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) December 9, 2016
Ward 97 councillor Leah Knott, wrote on her Facebook page that the Roodepoort depot manager confirmed that a private contractor was caught installing an illegal connection. The water thieves closed the pressure-reducing device to reduce the water pressure so they could drill into the pipes.This has resulted in severely reduced water pressure towards Ruimsig and complete outages in some areas. The entity will be removing the connection and is working on the pressure issue.
“They replaced a pipe on Van Staden Road last night [8 December] but Ruimsig is still experiencing issues,” said Knott on 9 December.
Joburg Water has kept affected residents informed via its Twitter page that they were on-site fixing the issue and explained the reasons for the shortage.
Ruimisig: Technicians are onsite repairing a pipe at Van der Kloof that was damaged due to illegal connections @CityofjoburgZA 1/2 ^H
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) December 8, 2016
Ruimsig: We have caught a contractor not employed by JHB water closing valves in the area which was affecting water supply 1/3 ^H
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) December 8, 2016
2/3 JHB Water officials are busy with the contractor asking them why they are closing water.JW will be opening those valves to restore water
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) December 8, 2016
3/3 We apologise to all residents who have been affected by this problem since yesterday,This was illegal activities done by contractor ^H
— Johannesburg Water (@JHBWater) December 8, 2016
