The City of Johannesburg is under immense pressure to supply water to its citizens and on Thursday, representatives from Rand Water and Joburg Water painted a dark outlook that includes level 2 restrictions.
Johannesburg water restrictions could rise to level 2: Here’s what we know
High demand and poorly maintained infrastructure are at the core of Joburg’s problems, senior manager for water demand management Logan Munsamy told reporters at a press briefing.
The City of Johannesburg region, in particular, will likely be struck the hardest by any aggressive intervention.
Already, the metro consumes an average of 1.7 million megalitres (Ml) per day, well above the recommended daily rate.
Persistent infrastructure failures in the City’s Commando system have only exacerbated the issue.
According to Munsamy, level 1 water restrictions implemented earlier this month are no longer feasible, despite progress in addressing problems with the trouble Commando.
“We are looking at increasing that level of restriction possibly to level 2 or higher. We must understand that there’s certain protocols that need to be followed because it’s highly regulated by the department of water and sanitation,” he warned.
At level 1, which is currently in place between 21:00 and 05:00, water supply is reduced by 15% and restrictions include:
- prohibited garden watering between 06:00 and 18:00;
- use of hosepipes to wash paved areas and driveways;
- washing cars;
- leaving taps running for tasks like brushing teeth; and
- taking baths.
At level 2, not only is water supply reduced by 22%, but also level 1 restrictions are enforced greatly with a tariff on the upward scale starting with users using more than 20 kiloliters up to those using more than 40 kiloliters per month, with the cost increasing as the usage increases.
“The issue of the level of restrictions will only come in if we are not seeing the results that we expect from the technical as well as the water conservation initiatives,” Joburg Water MD Ntshavheni Mukwevho confirmed.
