JOBURG residents are bracing for further water challenges following another suspected lightning strike at the Eikenhof substation.
The substation – which supplies Rand Water’s infrastructure with electricity – tripped on Monday night during a storm in Johannesburg.
The incident is likely to impact Rand Water’s ability to operate its pump stations effectively, which could result in more water outages.
Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda said power was restored overnight: “At this point the preliminary findings suggest that it was a lightning strike we are waiting for a report from Joburg Water to give us a clear indication on how it has affected water supply.”
The incident comes as residents are still grappling with a two-week water outage stemming from a lightning strike at the Eikenhof pump station earlier this month.
The City of Joburg said the few affected water supply systems are being closely monitored.
The systems that are affected currently are:
- Waterval Tower
- Linden 1 Tower
- Orlando East Reservoir
- Honeydew Reservoir
- Honeydew Tower
- Brixton Reservoir
- Hursthill 1 Reservoir
- Hursthill 2 Reservoir
Rand Water, Africa’s biggest bulk-water supplier, on 16 March told three municipalities in the central Gauteng province — Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, which have a combined population of more than 13 million people — that its system was on the verge of collapse.
The warning comes after a large swathe of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, was left without water for as long as 11 days, with some areas still without supply after lightning struck a pump station.
Meanwhile, the MEC for Housing and Human-Settlement in Gauteng Lebo Maile, is attending a service delivery crises at Diepkloof Hostel.
This follows delivery protests by hostel dwellers.
According to frustrated dwellers, water shortage and loadshedding are amongst major headaches, so is collection of refuse.
Image (Gatvol residents demand water as they protest outside Rand Water offices).
