Eskom power outage could lead to water shortages in two provinces

Certain parts of Gauteng and Mpumalanga may experience water shortages because of a power failure at one of Rand Water’s stations on Wednesday.

The Mapleton booster station, which is supplied by an Ekurhuleni substation, experienced a total power failure. The substation is fed from the Eskom grid, said Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo.

Ekurhuleni technicians could not find any fault on their system and therefore concluded the error came from Eskom, Maroo said.

“Eskom technicians are still busy with fault finding and unfortunately the estimate restoration time is unknown at this stage,” she said.

The power failure has led to a decline in Rand Water’s reservoirs, in particular in Brakpan, Vlakfontein and Bronberge, Selcourt, Stompies and Wildebeesfontein.

Should the restoration of power be prolonged, Rand Water’s reservoirs may decline to low levels, Maroo said.

This would affect: 

Ekurhuleni

• Tsakane
• Dalpark
• Brakpan
• Daveyton
• Springs
• Etwatwa
• AH Daveyton
• Cultural holdings

Tshwane

• Benoni Agricultural Holdings
• Corobrick
• Garsfontein Reservoir
• Woodlands Mall
• Mooikloof Res
• Midas
• Koedoesnek
• Leander

Govan Mbeki local municipality

• Secunda
• Kinross
• Leandra
• Bethal
• Brendan Village
• Evander
• Sasol
• Embalenhle

Lesedi local municipality

• Devon
• Endicott

Thembisile Hani local municipality

• Ekangala
• Kwamhlanga

“Rand Water will issue an update as soon as further details are available. Rand Water urges all consumers to use water sparingly,” Maroo said.

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