Johannesburg – The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday urged Gauteng residents to stock up on water ahead of planned maintenance by Rand Water at the Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant.
The Vereeniging plant will be closed next week from Tuesday to Thursday.
“While this maintenance is needed, it must be done proactively, not only when a problem occurs,” said DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Infrastructure Development Nico De Jager.
The Member of the Gauteng Legislature warned that neighbouring Johannesburg municipalities may also be affected.
The following areas will be affected by the maintenance:
Roodepoort
Randburg
Parts of Johannesburg Central
Ennerdale
Southdale
Soweto
“Furthermore, residents also need to be aware that while water may be restored on time, it will take time for the reservoirs to fill up and supply the high-lying areas with water,”‘ said De Jager.
“Residents need to ensure that they have enough water for the duration of the outage so that they can flush toilets, wash their hands, and bath.”
The recovery of reservoirs to full capacity can take up to 14 days.
“Residents must be mindful of usage as the higher-lying areas will be negatively affected,” said De Jager.
“In addition, dips in electricity can also cause problems with the supply of water, leaving residents without water for longer than initially anticipated.”
De Jager said the DA reiterates its call on Rand Water and Joburg Water to do proactive maintenance and not wait for problems to occur.
“If Rand Water does not get its act together, it will become another Eskom,” said De Jager.
“We will continue to put pressure on Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mzi Khumalo, to establish an inter-governmental task force to deal with the current water and electricity crises.”
Announcing the planned maintenance earlier this week, on Thursday, the bulk water utility said: “Please be advised that Rand Water will implement a planned maintenance to tie-in two valves between the A19 and B14 Pipelines.”
Rand Water added: “The planned maintenance will be undertaken to replace multiple valves at the Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant, Eikenhof Booster Pumping Station and Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant.
“The last part of the project will be work on electrical boards at Lethabo Pumping Station.
“This project forms part of Rand Waters maintenance strategy that focuses on proactive refurbishment and upgrading of its infrastructure to ensure future sustainability.”
Rand Water said the 58-hour project will begin at 19:00 on Tuesday, (11 July 2023), and continue until 05:00 on Friday, (14 July 2023).
Rand Water said some residents within the Rustenburg Local Municipality, Mogale City Local Municipality and the Rand West Local Municipality will experience intermittent water supply during the implementation of the project.
“We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused by the implementation of this maintenance project, however, planned maintenance on Rand Waters infrastructure is necessary to ensure future sustainable supply of water to our customers,” the bulk water utility said.
“We urge all consumers to continue using water sparingly.”
