Joburg water supply issues are getting worse, as 22 reservoirs are leaking and being renovated, but Logan Munsamy, senior manager of Johannesburg Water, stated that it will take time to finish.
Munsamy said they were working hard to ensure that water challenges were eliminated but stressed that the illegal connections were a major factor in the constant flow.
He added that they have purchased noise loggers which will help to detect leaks in the city’s pipeline network.
The water utility briefed the media on Thursday in Johannesburg on the water challenges, new developments that have taken place, as well as the mitigation strategies that the entity has in place to manage the situation.
This follows protests in other parts of Joburg this week, with residents complaining that the city was failing them.
Westbury residents took to the streets to voice their frustration over the lack of water supply.
Other parts of the city have not had water for days now and rely heavily on water tankers roaming around their streets.
The utility announced the water interruption set to start on December 6 until December 9. This is due to an upgrade at the Hector Norris pump station.
This means that residents in several suburbs will not have water for 72 hours.
The city is now placed at level 1 restrictions.
Munsamy explained that water supply difficulties in Westbury were caused by City Power’s maintenance work affecting the Eikenhof pumping station.
He said they had noted a slight improvement, although the systems were recovering slowly.
However, Munsamy said they have tried to cut off over 18 illegal water connections in the CBD in hijacked buildings and informal settlements but they were faced with challenges.
He said that they would be going back to cut off areas that were illegally connected to their supply because it was costing them, as the stolen water does not bring in revenue for municipalities and results in major leaks.