Johannesburg Water ropes in JMPD to ensure safe water delivery in Soweto during 58-hour shutdown

Johannesburg Water has roped in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) to ensure water is delivered safely in Soweto during the 58-hour water shutdown.

The planned outage started at 7pm on Tuesday and will end at 5am on Friday.

The purpose of the shutdown is to replace and upgrade old critical infrastructure and reduce unplanned infrastructure breakdowns.

Stationary water tankers have been placed in locations around the city, including Sandton, Randburg, Soweto, Langlaagte, Roodepoort and Southdale.

“JMPD is assisting the Soweto depot in providing security for water tankers to ensure they are able to deliver water safely in Soweto communities.

“The entity pleads with residents to not approach critical sites such as hospitals and clinics to get water as this drastically reduces the health facilities’ water supply,” said Johannesburg Water.

Johannesburg Water urged residents to show consideration when collecting water from tankers, emphasising the importance of preserving water for others in need.

The city's mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and MMC for the environment and infrastructure services department, Jack Sekwaila, conducted oversight visits to ensure critical areas have alternative water supply.

See below where you can collect water.

Residents in higher lying areas will experience an outage for a longer period as the network gradually recovers.

“Planned work starting from 7pm will result in reduced supply to the Rand Water Daleside booster station. Water supply will be reduced by 50% for eight hours. It is estimated once the work is completed, full recovery of water supply will take an additional 24 hours. Water supply at Zwartkopjes booster station will be reduced by 40% for 24 hours and by 24% at Eikenhof booster station for 58 hours,” Johannesburg Water said.

Areas not affected by the shutdown include most Sandton areas. A part of Sandton supplied from the Dunkeld reservoir will be affected.

You can see some of the areas that will be affected (marked with a blue tap icon) on the map below.