Question NW886 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation

Reply:

Municipalities in Gauteng buy most of their treated water from Rand Water, which abstracts raw water from the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) and treats it so that it meets drinking water quality standards. Rand Water stores the treated water in bulk storage reservoirs and pumps it into municipalities’ reservoirs. From there the water is mostly gravity-fed to households.

To ensure a continuous supply of water to users even in times of drought, the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) sets a limit on the amount of raw water that Rand Water can abstract from the IVRS. Dam storage levels can fall rapidly when there is a drought, and it would therefore be irresponsible to raise the abstraction limit when the dams are full. The amount of water in the IVRS therefore puts a limit on the amount of water that can be supplied to residents in Gauteng.

Demand for water in Gauteng has grown rapidly, largely due to population growth, and partly due to increasing leaks in municipal distribution systems. The planners in DWS anticipated this growth in demand and put in place plans to address it as far back as the 1980’s, through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which transfers water from Lesotho into the IVRS. Phase 2 of the LHWP is now under construction and is due to be completed by 2028.

Rand Water’s total current supply capacity is 5 200 million litres of treated drinking water per day, and it is already abstracting water from the IVRS at the limit set by DWS. It will only be possible for Rand Water to increase its abstraction of water from the IVRS after LHWP Phase 2 comes online.

Rand Water has a R35 billion capital programme which is timed to result in substantial additional treatment and storage capacity becoming available when LHWP Phase 2 comes online. This includes the recently completed R3.5 billion augmentation of the capacity of its Zuikerbosch Water Treatment Plant by 150 million litres per day. This additional capacity is now contributing to reducing the risk of shortages of water for Rand Water’s municipal customers.

In this context, the demand-supply relationship for treated water in Gauteng is very tight and the system is vulnerable to disruptions caused by heavy load shedding, electro-mechanical breakdowns or theft of cables. Usually, such breakdowns would not have a noticeable effect on water supply due to the ability to draw on reserve supply capacity, but now there is no reserve supply capacity. Because the water is usually gravity-fed from municipal reservoirs to households, high-lying areas are worst affected by disruptions in supply.

Rand Water’s infrastructure is well-maintained, and it only loses 3% of its water due to leaks. Gauteng’s municipalities have neglected the maintenance of their water infrastructure for decades, and on average they lose 25% of the water that they buy from Rand Water through leaks.

To reduce the risk of water supply disruptions in future, the municipalities need to improve their billing and revenue collection and allocate increased funding to maintenance and to reducing leaks. There are also investments that they can make in pumps and reservoirs which can improve their ability to withstand the kind of disruptions described above (the City of Joburg is currently implementing several such investments).

The Minister of Water and Sanitation is coordinating regular meetings with Rand Water and the Mayors of the Gauteng municipalities. In addition, officials from Rand Water and the Gauteng municipalities are having daily meetings to ensure improved coordination of responses to disruptions in supply.

Even after LHWP Phase 2 comes on stream, Gauteng’s long-term water consumption will need to be carefully managed, because there are limits to which further phases of LHWP or other water transfer projects can continue to provide additional water to Gauteng at an affordable cost. The reality is that South Africa is a water-scarce country with limited sustainable water resources and amongst the top 30 driest countries globally.

DWS is working with Rand Water and the municipalities in Gauteng to implement a more effective communications strategy regarding the need for people to use water more sparingly. Average per capita water consumption in Gauteng is 279 litres per day compared to the world average of 173 litres per capita per day.

If water supply disruptions are to be avoided in Gauteng in future, a culture of careful water use needs to be promoted and awareness raised of the fact that, if some people do not use water sparingly, other people will get none.

(a-b) The Annie Burger Old Age Home and Carrick Retirement Villages are primarily supplied with water from the Crown Gardens Tower Zone. The CoJ has reported that water supply to the Annie Burger Old Age Home and Carrick Retirement Village has been restored.

The following measures has been taken by Johannesburg Water to ensure continued water supply to the Annie Burger Old Age Home and the Carrick Retirement Village during periods of water supply interruptions:

• Stationary water tanks have been installed at both the Annie Burger Old Age Home and the Carrick Retirement Village to store water during supply disruptions.
• Johannesburg Water, in collaboration with the local ward councillor, ensures timely filling of these tanks whenever water outages occur, to minimise inconvenience to elderly residents.
• In emergency situations, water is transported from a collection point in Riverlea, approximately 8.4 km away, to ensure continuous water availability and minimal disruption at the two centres.

Johannesburg Water has also reported that it maintains regular communication and effective coordination with local ward councillors to proactively address water supply challenges in all areas of the city impacted by water supply interruptions.

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