On Thursday, 7 November, the City of Tshwane issued notices about widespread water outages affecting multiple regions across Pretoria.
Story Summary:
- Parts of Tshwane, including Soshanguve, Atteridgeville, Pretoria West, and Pretoria East, are facing water shortages following a major outage.
- The City of Tshwane attributed the disruption to a power trip at Rand Water’s Palmiet Pump Station, affecting water pressure and supply in multiple areas.
- Repairs are underway, but some areas may experience prolonged outages.
Several parts of Tshwane hit by water outage
Areas such as Soshanguve, Atteridgeville, Pretoria West, Olivenhoutbosch, Pretoria East, and parts of Bronkhorstpruit were affected by low water pressure or complete water outages.
The City attributed the problem to issues originating from Rand Water’s operations, particularly a power trip impacting pumping stations and water supply.
According to a statement from Tshwane, a power trip at Rand Water’s Palmiet Pump Station reduced the station’s pumping capacity to 80%.
This reduction led to a rapid drop in water levels at key reservoirs that supply many areas of Tshwane, including Brakfontein, Klipriviersberg, Klipfontein, and Hartebeesthoek.
The areas experiencing water outages and low pressure are extensive and include Akasia, Saulsville, Clubview, Lyttelton, Laudium, and Olievenhoutbosch.
The city specified that residents serviced by the Akasia, Blair Athol, Erasmia, and Klapperkop reservoirs should expect delays in water pressure normalisation.
Other regions, such as Soshanguve and Mabopane, are expected to be among the hardest hit due to their reliance on the affected reservoirs.
According to Tshwane officials, the problem has created ripple effects across most of the city, from Lotus Gardens to parts of Bronkhorstpruit.
Though power has been restored, full operations have yet to resume, leaving residents in affected areas with limited water availability.
Tshwane and Rand Water teams are working to stabilise and repair the Palmiet Pump Station to resume full pumping capacity.
Affected reservoirs are currently operating at reduced capacity, with emergency response teams addressing the backlog.
The City’s communications department has assured the public that every effort is being made to expedite the restoration process, though full repairs may take additional time.
Power outage compounds water shortages
Alongside the water disruptions, a power issue emerged at the Pyramid substation, with a tripped transformer affecting electricity supply across regions in Tshwane.
This disruption not only worsened the water supply issues but also delayed repairs to affected water pumping systems.
The City of Tshwane dispatched teams to restore power but warned residents that some areas may continue to experience intermittent power and water supply over the coming days.
