Water and Sanitation on current Gauteng water supply challenges

Residents and businesses in certain areas of Gauteng are currently experiencing severe disruptions to their water supply. Rand Water’s planned maintenance programme that is currently underway has resulted in a partial reduction in the amount of water that it can supply to Gauteng municipalities. Rand Water is working around the clock to ensure that its planned maintenance programme is completed as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, the situation has been exacerbated by several major breakdowns which have occurred at the same time as the planned maintenance. These breakdowns include an electrical power failure at Rand Water’s Zwartkopjes Booster Pumping Station which occurred on 26 June. This has since been repaired and the pumping station is running at full capacity. In addition, on 25 June, the City of Johannesburg experienced a major burst pipe which affected its ability to supply the Illovo Reservoir. This has also since been repaired.  

As has been previously indicated by the Department of Water Sanitation (DWS), the supply-demand relationship for treated water in Gauteng is very tight. This is largely because demand for water has risen due to rapid population growth in Gauteng. DWS anticipated this and planned the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP2) to add more water into the Integrated Vaal River System (which supplies Gauteng with water) and this project was expected to be completed by 2019. While LHWP2 is now under construction, it was started late and is only due to be completed by 2028.  

The tight  supply-demand relationship results in a situation where municipal water distribution systems take a long time to recover from breakdowns. Because the demand is close to, or occasionally exceeds the available supply of water, the water levels in the reservoirs rise very slowly after repairs have been completed. The water is usually gravity-fed from the reservoirs to households, resulting in high-lying areas being worst affected. This explains why the municipalities have been issuing media statements indicating that it is taking time for their systems to recover.

To reduce the risk of water supply disruptions in future, the municipalities need to improve their billing and revenue collection for water and allocate increased funding to maintenance of their water infrastructure and to reducing leaks in their water distribution systems. There are also investments that they should make in pumps and reservoirs, which can improve their ability to withstand the kind of disruptions described above (Joburg Water is currently implementing such investments).

In addition to completing LHWP2, fixing leaks in municipal water distribution systems, and investing in maintenance and improvement of  these systems, there is also a need to improve water conservation and demand management in Gauteng. In this regard, DWS is working with Rand Water, the municipalities in Gauteng, the World Bank 2030 Water Resources Group, organised business, civil society leaders and sector experts to put in place an awareness campaign in Gauteng for water to be used more sparingly.  

Rand Water and the affected municipalities will continue to communicate with the public regarding progress with the implementation of the maintenance programme and the provision of alternative water supplies during the Rand Water maintenance period. DWS, Rand Water and the municipalities continue to meet daily to assess the performance of the water supply systems in order to activate interventions in areas experiencing supply challenges.

For more information, contact Wisane Mavasa, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation on 060 561 8935.