Water Demand Management and conservation is a strong priority in the City of Johannesburg, and in support of the Department of Water and Sanitation’s drive to drastically improve Gauteng’s water security, Johannesburg Water has an ongoing Water Conservation and Water Demand Management (WCWDM) Programme.

Senior Manager for Water Demand Management and Technical Metering, Logan Munsamy said: “Operating concurrently with the City’s annual water restrictions, the WCWDM Programme was implemented to ensure a continuous and sustainable water supply and to reduce strain on Johannesburg’s water supply networks.”

The Entity’s WCWDM Programme includes a range of strategies that aim to reduce losses and decrease system input volume.

1. Commando System Project

There are three main projects within the Commando System that aim to improve water supply to this district and will be executed as a phased approach. The project is at around 55% completion.

(a) Phase 1: Construction of the New Brixton Reservoir, Tower, and Pumpstation, which are currently in progress. This is at around 60% completion.

(b) Phase 2: Upgrading of the existing Crosby Pumpstation, including a new rising main from the Crosby Pumpstation to the inlet of the Hursthill Reservoir to augment and boost supply, as well as the upgrading of the supply line from the Commando Meter to the Hursthill and Crosby Reservoirs. The contract is currently out on tender, which is closing at the end of October 2024. Construction is expected to commence in March 2025.

2. Repairs to leaking reservoirs

The Entity has identified and assessed 42 leaking reservoirs, with plans in place to repair 20 of them as high priority in order to curb water losses. The 20 reservoirs are at various stages, and this project will continue over the next few years.

3. On-property leaks

There is a project aimed at fixing on-property leaks at residential homes as well as the rollout of the STS smart meters project, which will better manage and measure consumption and improve billing. This is done together with the replacement of customer meters and will at the same time address the challenge of illegal connections. All these projects aim to reduce physical losses and reduce non-revenue water losses.

4. Smart flow controllers

The Entity will retrofit smart flow controllers on the outlets of 28 high-consumption reservoirs and towers. This will assist in reducing water losses on the system and will lead to improved and stable levels in these reservoir systems.

5. Pressure management

The Entity will reinstate and refurbish conventional pressure reducing valves (PRVs) that are currently not operational due to vandalism and technical faults. Further to this, smart pressure controllers will be installed on key network zonal PRVS in order to reduce bursts . All these interventions aim to reduce high pressures within the Entity’s system, thereby reducing minimum night flows and losses.