Rand Water systems are dropping fast as a result of extremely high-water consumption from customers, Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane as reported in weekly consumption figures (see figure 2 and 3 below). Rand Water continues to supply at maximum capacity; however, the storage is declining rapidly owing to high-water consumption.
Figure 1
Figure 1 depicts the declining Rand Water storage systems – shown by the red solid line. The decline can be observed from the 19th of January 2025. Figures 2 and 3 below show the high levels of water consumption by the Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane. The Two Metros are part of the top Three (3) customers, being Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. The upward trend in water consumption requires customers to implement interventions to bring consumption down.
Figure 2
The consumption patterns observed from the City of Johannesburg, as reflected in figure 2 above, shows an upward trajectory despite efforts to bring this consumption down. The drop in consumption mid-December 2024 was as a result of Rand Water’s maintenance and the consumption shot up immediately after the completion of that maintenance.
Figure 3
Equally, the City of Tshwane is consuming above the green line (licensed quota) and going the wrong way. Rand Water therefore calls on the above-mentioned customers to reduce their consumption to avoid system collapse which will inevitably affect other customers as well. The water systems are interlinked and high consumption in one area impacts on the sustainable provision in other areas. Water conservation is a joint responsibility that must be observed and practiced by ALL to ensure sustainable and equitable supply and provision.
In addition to the rising temperatures and high-water consumption, electricity outages have exacerbated the issue of declining systems. On Tuesday, 11 February at 13h45, a total power supply failure occurred at Emfuleni power sub-station and impacted Rand Water’s Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant. The Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant is totally reliant on power supplied by Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM). The outage was caused by the failure of ELM’s transformer.
Power supply to the Vereeniging Water Treatment Plant was restored, and full operations resumed at 18h20. However, at 20h20, another power failure occurred, once again disrupting pumping. The Emfuleni Local Municipality team is working to resolve the issue; however, the estimated time for restoration is currently unknown.
This incident has led to the depletion of reservoirs, affecting customers supplied by the VVS system (Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, and Sasolburg), as well as the Forest Hill, Yeoville, Benoni, and Eikenhof systems. The following municipalities will be impacted: Emfuleni, Metsimaholo, Ngwathe, Rustenburg, Royal Bafokeng Administration, Rand West, Merafong, Mogale City and the Cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni. Additionally, some direct customers, industries and mines will be impacted.
