Johannesburg residents can now breathe a sigh of relief after the 54-hour shut down for maintenance work on the B11 bulk supply line of Rand Water went off with minimum impact on households, the City of Johannesburg said on Tuesday.
Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Councillor Nico de Jager, said the installation of the butterfly valve on the 2 500 mm diameter line has now been completed and recharging of the pipeline has commenced.
"We wish to thank residents who adhered to the calls to use water sparingly and to save water during this time. This ensured that a complete no-water situation was avoided," said De Jager.
He expressed his gratitude to Rand Water for completing the job within the specified time and keeping residents continuously informed on the progress of the undertaking.
De Jager reminded all residents that level-1 water restrictions were still in place and urged all customers to continue to use water sparingly as the area was in the middle of a rain-starved winter.
Johannesburg Water, in an effort to maintain a culture of water conservation, is still implementing Level 1 water restrictions according to section 44 (3) of the Water Services By-law, on an annual basis, between 06:00 - 18:00 from September 1 to March 31; and between 08:00 - 16:00 from April 1 and August 31, all consumers were prohibited from watering and irrigating their gardens.
"All consumers are prohibited from using a hose-pipe to clean paved areas and driveways with municipal water," said De Jager.
Rand Water said their network was operational and stable and all reservoirs were meeting demand.
"We extend our appreciation to the highly skilled Rand Water technical team that worked around the clock to allow the project to reach this final stage," Rand Water spokesperson Justice Mohale said.
"We would like to thank all consumers as well as its municipal customers for the manner in which we were able to manage and control our water resources during the duration of the shutdown."