During World Water Week (27 August to 1 September 2017), world leaders, water experts, development professionals and policy makers from around the globe focus on finding better ways to the use the world’s increasingly scarce fresh water resources. World Water Week was
In support of World Water Week, Johannesburg Water, the entity which provide water and sanitations services in the City of Johannesburg, has reflected on the scarcity of water in the City, and has number of interventions in place to reduce high water demand in the Johannesburg:
Water Pipe Replacement
Johannesburg Water has implemented a pipe replacement programme over the past five years. By the end of June 2017, 499 km of water pipes have been replaced. Going forward into the next five years, Johannesburg Water plans to replace a further 633 km of water pipes. In replacing these pipes the burst frequencies will reduce and water losses will be minimised.
Pressure Management
Pressure Management is an effective way to control the amount of water lost in a system. This can be implemented without compromising the levels of service at the target or critical points. The aim of the programme is to reduce excessive night-time water pressure in order to decrease background (small) leaks and to limit unnecessary pipe bursts. A reduction in pressure can mean a significant reduction in real losses through leaks. Johannesburg Water has more than 500 pressure reducing valves in its system. Each pressure releasing valve is part of a preventative maintenance programme which ensures each station is maintained once every three (3) months on average. Johannesburg Water further identified 170 new Pressure Management Areas (PMA) and prioritized twenty (20) of them to be implemented in the 2017/18 financial year at a cost of R10 million.
Active and Passive Leak Detection
Johannesburg Water has a number of dedicated teams that survey over 10,000 km of water reticulation per annum to identify leaks on the system that are either not reported through the customer interface or not visible. Various technologies and equipment are used by Johannesburg Water to identify these invisible leaks. All identified leaks are reported and repaired within the agreed response times by technical teams.
Residents of the City of Johannesburg are reminded that watering times for gardens will change back to between 18:00 and 06:00 from 1 September 2017. As per the water restrictions stipulated in section 44 (3) of the Water Services By-law as follows:
- Watering of gardens is only allowed between 18:00-06:00 (1 September to 31 March); and between 16:00-08:00 (1 April to 31 August).
- It is still prohibited to use hosepipes to clean paved areas and driveways with municipal water.
As we celebrate World Water Week, residents are urged to continue to use water wisely and to continue to remain active partners in reducing the amount of water used within the city. Residents are advised to check the Johannesburg Water website for water saving tips: www.johannesburgwater.co.za
The City of Johannesburg would like to encourage residents to subscribe to the Johannesburg Water SMS notification service for alerts on planned or unplanned service interruptions via our website. More information can be obtained on Twitter: @jhbwater or Facebook: Johannesburg Water.