Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has confirmed that it is working on a plan to maintain water supply and availability across the city when Rand Water implements a 30-hour water shutdown next Friday.
The bulk water supplier planned to deploy its team of technicians to finalise the tie-in of the newly installed S4 water pipeline. The shutdown will be effective between Friday February 24 from 3am until Saturday 9am.
With Tshwane having recently experienced many water interruptions, some which sparked protests in areas like Soshanguve, and resulted in water shortages at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, the City is set on minimising the impact.
Water interruptions and shortages have been a problem in Tshwane for years now. Some due to Tshwane's overwhelmed and under-capacitated infrastructure and others due to challenges experienced at Rand Water, which subsequently affected the City when reservoirs were running dry.
As if that was not enough, Gauteng and the country at large, experienced water shortages as a result of heatwaves that evaporated water in dams and rivers.
Spokesperson for the City, Lindela Mashigo, said, during the shutdown, there will be no water supply from Rand Water’s Vlakfontein Reservoir to Tshwane.
"Residents are thus urged to use water sparingly during this time to prevent reservoirs from running dry.
"The City will also fill its reservoirs to capacity prior to the shutdown. There will also be roaming water tankers to supply all the affected areas with water," said Mashigo.
Reservoiurs that will be affected by the shutdown are Corobrick, Eersterust, Kilner, Koedoesnek, Equestria, Mamelodi, Montana, Moreleta, Murrayfield, Parkmore, Queenswood, Sinoville, Villieria Peak, Waverley, Gastonbury, Koedoesnek and Midas and Leander meters.
This will also include some in Nellmapius, Mooikloof, Savanna and Woodlands.
To add salt to the wound, the City today temporarily shutdown the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant due to the deteriorated raw water quality as a result of the heavy rains.
The shut-down was effected in order to avoid distributing water that does not comply with the standards for drinking water.
The situation will be monitored closely. Once the quality of the raw water has improved, the treatment plant will be put back into operation.
Pretoria News