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6 months ago
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Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda provided an update after a lightning strike caused water outages in Johannesburg for the second time in two weeks. (Screenshot/X/@CityPowerJhb)
- A lightning strike tripped Rand Water's Eikenhof pump station again on Monday night.
- Two weeks ago, another lightning strike started a series of water outages in the City of Johannesburg.
- Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said the impact of the lightning strike was being assessed.
The Eikenhof pump station tripped again on Monday night due to a suspected lightning strike at the Orlando substation in Soweto.
The latest outage comes after more than two weeks of water woes for parts of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said City Power and Johannesburg Water technical teams had been working with Rand Water to investigate the source of the trip and its impact.
On Tuesday morning, Gwamanda said teams had successfully restored power to the pump station at around 23:00.
A few water supply systems have been affected and are being monitored closely, he added.
"However, a comprehensive assessment will be made after the morning peak demand as, in some instances, the impact could be delayed," he said.
The City urges residents to use water sparingly as it assesses the impact of the lightning strike on the system.
The systems that are currently affected are:
- Waterval Tower
- Linden 1 Tower
- Orlando East Reservoir
- Honeydew Reservoir
- Honeydew Tower
- Brixton Reservoir
- Hursthill 1 Reservoir
- Hursthill 2 Reservoir
The last widespread water outage, which lasted for two weeks, was caused by three power failures at Eikenhof. The first outage was caused by a lightning strike at a City Power substation that supplies the pump station.
@CityofJoburgZA Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda visiting Orlando substation following a trip on Monday evening at 20h45, which affected Eikenhof substation feeding Rand Water. The outage, which lasted for about two hours, is suspected to have been caused by thunderstorms and… pic.twitter.com/S9HDplazzd
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) March 18, 2024As the system was unable to pump water, the flow to Johannesburg, Rand West, Mogale City, Rustenburg, Merafong and some mines was affected.
The City of Johannesburg has since put forward a proposed infrastructure development plan, which will be tabled in council in May, to address its ailing water infrastructure.
The proposed development plan will seek to create regulations that will ensure that infrastructure is replaced and maintained in the future.
The City has a R1 billion water renewal and replacement budget, but an estimated R3 billion a year is needed to maintain the infrastructure.
This deficit is the reason for the R27 billion water infrastructure backlog.
Are you in Johannesburg and experiencing water outages this morning? We want to hear from you. Drop us a mail with your name and location: feedback@news24.com
