Johannesburg — Johannesburg Water gave an update on the current challenges it faces to restore consistent water supply back to residents.
Johannesburg Water’s Operations Manager Logan Munsamy, led a briefing where he revealed that several key challenges including a lack of funds, illegal connections and old infrastructure have contributed significantly to the city’s ongoing water struggles.
According to Newzroom Afrika, Munsamy explained that the utility will go back to cut off areas that have illegal connections to their water supply, following resistance from community members.
“You will have noticed a few years ago, we attempted to cut off some illegal connections in the deep south region but we were faced with some challenges. We are reorganising to go back to such areas so that we can better manage our systems,” he added.
He said maintenance work has been done on the Pressure Reducing Valves (PRVs), used to lower system pressures, which reduces the risk of bursts. He said 204 out of 685 PRVs have been repaired so far.
[WATCH] Johannesburg Water’s Logan Moonsamy says they will be going back to cut off areas that are illegally connected to their supply. This follows resistance by community members in some areas. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/yU8NTpzkTE
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) November 28, 2024
According to IOL, Munsamy explained that 22 reservoirs are leaking and being renovated and that it would take time to finish. He said the utility has been hard at work to ensure that water challenges came to an end, but stressed that illegal connections were a 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.
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 said water interruptions were set to run from 6 December to 9 December, due to an upgrade at the Hector Norris Pump Station. It will result in a 72-hour water interruption. Munsamy also said the current water supply difficulties in Westbury were due to City Power’s maintenance work affecting the Eikenhof pumping station.
As reported by EWN, Munsamy said the efforts to improve infrastructure have been hampered by a lack of adequate resources. The utility has been criticised for not upgrading infrastructure to meet the water demand. The current infrastructure is said to be more than 100 years old.
Munsamy dismissed allegations that the utility has no plans to improve its infrastructure.
“We’ve got, as a city, some brilliant plans. We’ve always had plans – from town planning to water, electricity, and roads. The problem we sit with is resourcing those plans to get them to be constructed and to get them to be realised.”
He said most of the infrastructure has already been upgraded, but in areas like the inner city of Johannesburg, ageing infrastructure remains a problem.
Water demand in Johannesburg remains higher than what the system can provide. That’s according to Joburg Water’s Logan Munsamy. He says the city consumes over 1.7 million litres a day. #DStv403 #eNCA pic.twitter.com/wqdqvvfFTi
— eNCA (@eNCA) November 28, 2024
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@Koena_xM
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
