In South Africa’s largest city, residents have been enduring the effects of an ongoing heatwave, with some communities now enduring a water shortage for more than a week.
Johannesburg’s public water services provider, Johannesburg Water, has attributed the city’s persistent water crisis to dwindling reservoir levels and heightened water consumption.
According to a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday (Mar. 11), Johannesburg Water cited the diminished flow into the Linden 1 and Blairgowrie reservoirs primarily due to increased demand driven by hot weather conditions, compounded by critically low reservoir levels.
To address the situation, Johannesburg Water indicated that technical teams are closely monitoring the affected systems. Measures include throttling outlets of the critically low reservoirs overnight to allow for capacity buildup, as outlined in a customer notice.
Furthermore, power outages have reportedly impacted the Eikenhof pump station, leading to intermittent water supply for residents across various Johannesburg areas, including greater Soweto.
While the water crisis initially emerged late last year, recent weeks have seen a worsening of the situation. Affected areas are currently receiving alternative water supply measures.
