By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg is experiencing severe interruptions due to water supply challenges at the Parktown 2 reservior.
Gauteng Department of Health spokesperson Khutso Rabothata said the hospital began experiencing low water pressure in the early hours of Monday morning.
“Following an investigation by technicians, it was discovered that Johannesburg Water had cut the water supply to the facility’s bulk water tanks on Friday. As a result, hospital management has implemented measures to prioritise emergency cases and divert all elective surgeries to nearby facilities until the water challenges are resolved by Johannesburg Water,” said Rabothata.
He added that alternative water supply had been secured from Johannesburg Water and would be supplemented with bottled water.
Rabothata said talks with Johannesburg Water continue to find a speedy solution.
Last night Joburg Water confirmed the hospital had been affected by supply challenges affecting Parktown 2 reservoir.
“This is due to the combination of poor supply and high demand. Poor pressure to no water is expected in the supply zone. Johannesburg Water’s teams continue to investigate the supply and demand side of the system without finding the cause of sudden poor supply and high demand.
“The teams continue investigations into finding the cause for the poor supply and addressing airlocks. These investigations require considerable time. The reservoir has been reconfigured to boost incoming supply, and there is no estimated time of restoration at this stage,” the utility said.
On Monday, residents of Carlswald, Roosevelt Park, Killarney, Hyde Park and Illovo reported that they had been without water for up to six days.
According to Johannesburg Water, residents are consuming water faster than bulk water distributor Rand Water can deliver.