With water supply issues still plaguing Gauteng and elsewhere, water activists under the banner WaterCAN aim to tackle the problems.

WaterCAN is an offshoot of the non-profit Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and is trying to get answers to the crisis from bulk water supply utility Rand Water. WaterCAN is demanding Rand Water provide a clear plan of action at a public meeting.

Many parts of Johannesburg have regularly been left without water for days due to constrained reservoirs and towers – with levels “critically low to empty” in some areas.

The suburb of Melville, west of the Johannesburg CBD, is one of the worst-affected areas. It is supplied by the Hursthill reservoir, which has been struggling to recover from power blackouts and has been registering low to no water pressure.

Alka Larkan, a long-term Melville resident and a member of the Johannesburg Water Crisis Committee (JWCC) – a group of concerned residents – said: “I have had some water for the last few days. I spend a lot of time finding the ‘sweet spot’ when I have power and water, to ensure I can shower and use the washing machine. Water outages have been an ongoing crisis in our area. It’s not just because of load shedding; the Hursthill reservoir is inadequate and this has been affecting areas like Melville, Mayfair, Westdene and Brixton for years. We would go days without water even before load shedding became more extensive.

“The Hursthill reservoir is part of the Commando Road System, and this cannot supply surrounding areas when there is a sudden increased demand for water during heatwaves or increased load shedding. Water shortages are often a week or longer; sometimes 20 days.”

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According to Larkan, JWCC has tried to engage with Johannesburg Water and Rand Water on the crisis but both entities have been unable to provide information on emergency plans or even long-term strategic planning.

“Rand Water and Joburg Water provide constant assurances that the water supply issues will be addressed, but they have not shared details of how this will happen. During water outages, they blame Eskom or each other, but there is no plan to attend to any of these issues.

“The provision of water using JoJo tanks was insufficient and the community relied on help from sites with boreholes. The mosque in Auckland Park was very generous with its borehole last year. Many residents have had to purchase water in bulk to maintain basic hygiene. Many are installing rainwater tanks, but this is expensive,” said Larkan.

To solve the problem, Larkan said both Rand Water and Johannesburg Water have to come up with a clear initiative to identify and communicate honestly with affected communities.

Residents collect water from a government truck in Tsakane near Brakpan on 21 October 2022. (Photo: Gallo Images / OJ Koloti)

Village without water

Sarah Schoonwinkel, a resident of West Village in Krugersdorp, told DM168: “For more than 280 consecutive days we have had a mere trickle of water every morning between midnight and 6am. As a small mining village, we have a private electricity supplier, West Rand Power Distributors (WRPD), which provides electricity to the village. In 2017 there was a dispute over payment in which the Krugersdorp Municipality failed to pay their account with WRPD, resulting in them cutting the supply to the water reservoir pumps. We now have a generator which provides an intermittent supply at best to the pumps.”

Schoonwinkel added: “From time to time the operator of the pumps and generator neglects to ensure there is diesel, resulting in the supply of water ceasing completely. He starts the pumps far too late to enable the majority of the village – a very poor community – to have a useful water supply in the early morning.

“In the recent past, this generator has broken down several times, leaving the village with no water at all. Only days after this has occurred does the municipality think it necessary to provide a water tanker mid-afternoon when most of us are at work. I’ve tried dozens of avenues… not one person has been interested in helping us.”

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Last week, Rand Water warned Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Lesedi municipalities of water shortages after a power supply failure at a pump station.

According to Dr Ferrial Adam, manager of WaterCAN: “The ongoing water outages are more about poor planning and lack of infrastructure maintenance than load shedding. In addition, there is a complete lack of urgency to address these issues.”

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Adam said the situation qualified as a crisis needing urgent solutions. However, Rand Water’s Makenosi Maroo said the utility did not believe there was a crisis.

“It is also known that the country is experiencing load shedding which also causes residual electricity supply problems. These factors have a direct impact on some municipalities’ ability to supply sufficient water to high-lying areas.

“Rand Water’s system is extremely sensitive to power outages. Additionally… at the beginning of the year, it observed an increase in water demand from an average of 4,300 million litres of water a day to 4,900 million litres of water a day.”

Megalitre promises

Last week, Rand Water opened the 210-megalitre Vlakfontein Reservoir – said to be the largest cylindrical reservoir in South Africa – to augment water storage in Gauteng. Last month, it invested in new generators.

However, WaterCAN and JWCC still want Rand Water to hold regular public meetings to explain the challenges and how they are being addressed.

While the WaterCAN campaign is mobilising in Johannesburg, Adam said the focus would be national.

“Our key aim is to build a water movement through developing a network of groups already working on water, as well as building citizen scientists to test, monitor and act on water. Water challenges in our country are so huge we have to get many people, groups and organisations involved.” DM168

To get involved in water activism visit the WaterCAN website.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.