Johannesburg To Implement Overnight Water Supply Throttling To Boost Reservoir Levels

The City of Johannesburg will start reducing water supply between 9:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. from Thursday to help reservoir levels recover overnight.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina announced this during a media briefing in Johannesburg after an urgent meeting focused on tackling water challenges in the city, SA News reported.

Majodina explained that the meeting led to a clear agreement on the causes of recent water interruptions and outlined steps needed to stabilize the water supply for Johannesburg residents.

The minister also noted that the 2023 No Drop report found average water consumption in Gauteng to be 279 liters per person daily, which is 60% higher than the world average of 173 liters per person per day.

This is unusually high, especially considering South Africa's limited water resources, as it is one of the 30 driest countries in the world.

The 2023 No Drop report also found that Johannesburg lost about 35% of its water, more than double the international standard of 15%. The No Drop program focuses on water conservation and managing demand and aims to keep water distribution systems working efficiently.

Majodina said that reducing water loss in the city will need several approaches, including improving billing and revenue collection to fund maintenance, creating incentives for efficient water use, managing water pressure and replacing old pipes that frequently burst.

The Department of Water and Sanitation, Rand Water, the provincial government, and all municipalities in Gauteng are working with community leaders, business representatives and experts on a large awareness campaign to encourage more careful water use.

An independent organization called the Platform for a Water Secure Gauteng has been set up to manage this campaign. As a first step, a dashboard has been added to the Department of Water and Sanitation's website, giving the public detailed information on Gauteng's water supply status.

Majodina reported that political leaders across the three levels of government are confident that these actions will be carried out promptly. They also decided to hold weekly meetings every Sunday to keep track of progress.

Johannesburg Water is taking several steps to save water including reducing water supply from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily, starting on November 14, to help reservoirs refill overnight.

Hiring contractors for emergency repairs on large water pipes and adding more standby teams for quick response to leaks and bursts. Increasing repair teams over the weekend to cut leak repair times from 48 hours to 24 hours.

The measures also include adding more trucks to support repair and maintenance teams and disconnecting illegal water connections in key informal settlements.