Crisis deepens: Is water being throttled in Joburg?

Johannesburg’s water crisis has intensified with claims that Rand Water has reduced the city’s supply by approximately 200 million litres per day and that water authorities have throttled the top 30 bulk meters by up to 40%. The claims were made by DA MP Stephen Moore, following a briefing given to city councillors on Friday night. Moore revealed what he described as the scale of the crisis, stating that the network is constrained and throttling is underway.

“We were told Rand Water is not supplying Joburg the normal volume but rather about 200 ML/day less,” he said. According to Moore, the top 30 bulk meters, which he said have been restricted by between 20 and 40%, account for more than 90% of the city’s consumption, explaining how quickly pressure can drop in parts of the network. Furthermore, Moore said the supply constraint appears to be temporary due to system strain and partly a longer-term effort to reduce Johannesburg’s usage.

He cited numbers from the Commando system as evidence of the severity, noting that normal minimum flow is 2 500 cubic metres per hour, but between 9 and 13 February, flow dropped to 1 942 cubic metres per hour. “The reason given: Rand Water’s Meredale and Waterval reservoirs were low because overall demand is exceeding capacity,” Moore stated. Rand Water has not responded toThe Citizen’srequest for comment.

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Any update will be included, once recieved. According to Moore, Joburg Water is grappling with a massive repair workload, reporting more than 10 000 jobs per month. Moore described this as a scale problem, explaining that when the network is stressed, leaks, bursts and valve work become a daily churn.

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