Some parts of Gauteng have been experiencing water shortages for weeks now.
According to the City of Johannesburg, this water shortage has been caused by the endless power failure at Rand Water’s Eikenhof facility.
The city further said the Linden 1 and Blairgowrie reservoirs were the most affected ones.
An insider at the municipality told Independent Media that this water crisis had also affected metro’s water quality.
He continued to say that in order for the municipality to recover and find the lasting solution it was important that the municipality understood where the problem was.
“At this point we are In crisis, there are no solutions to this problems, by now we thought we would have received the promised 100 megalitres by now.
Unfortunately the situation remains the same,” the insider said.
Terry Ann, a Randburg resident said the water challenge was a nightmare for her as she had a newborn baby and that required her to use water more often.
“They promised to deliver water through their trucks but I sometimes unable to go get that water as I am usually by myself in the morning.
The situation is really frustrating for my husband and I. Sometimes when he knocks off he buys water, and what he would do he would go collect water at the garage for us to use for bathing,” Ann said.
The water crisis is not a new phenomenon in Gauteng, as it had hit its residents late last year where various area were left without water for days, areas such as South Hills, Midrand, Naturena, Berea, and Linden.
At the time the problem was attributed to power outages which residents said it had taken a toll on their daily lives.
Recently Bronkhorstspruit near Pretoria, has been without water for days now due to a major “pipe burst”.
Last week, residents took to the streets as a sign of displeasure towards Tshwane municipality which they said was due to water outages.
The residents protest followed after the Metro failed to deliver on its promises that residents would get water in the next few days.
According to the municipality officials the reason Bronkhorstspruit residents were without water was because of the pump breakdown at the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant.
On Friday, the City’s executive met with the Gauteng MEC for local government, Mzi Khumalo, and a representative from the Department of Water and Sanitation over water outages that have plagued the area for weeks.
Municipal spokesperson Selby Bokaba said parties discussed water supply challenges in Region 7 during the interaction and also exchanged technical information.
The meeting, he said, expressed satisfaction with the plans that the city provided together with the time lines for restoring water.
Last week, the City promised to repair a broken pump at the treatment plant. However, the city said it was still waiting for a motor required to operate the pump.
The motor was eventually delivered on Monday night and Bokaba said the installation of both the pump and motor was scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
Bokaba said: “Some of the areas in Region 7 have been beset by water outages following the breakdown of a pump, although supply has been interchangeably restored in mostly low-lying areas through the balancing of the system to ensure an equitable distribution of water to all residents, except in the high-lying areas of Ekangala and Rethabiseng.”
He said the metro had observed that the balancing of the system intervention brought some relief to parts of Region 7.
Saturday Star
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