Plan Ahead: Gauteng Residents to Face Water Outages from January 25–26, 2025

Johannesburg and surrounding areas are bracing for a weekend of dry taps as Rand Water initiates a crucial planned maintenance project on its O2 pipeline. The two-day water outage, scheduled from 6:00 AM on January 25 to 6:00 AM on January 26, 2025, will affect several municipalities, including Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, and Madibeng.

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This project is expected to disrupt water supply to various reservoirs and towers, impacting residents and businesses across Gauteng.

Areas Affected by Johannesburg Water Outage

Below is a breakdown of the affected areas by municipality:

Johannesburg Areas

Midrand Systems:
Rabie Ridge Reservoir, Grand Central Tower, Grand Central Reservoir, President Park Tower & Reservoir, Erand Reservoir & Tower, Country View Reservoir.
Sandton Systems:
Bryanston Reservoir, Illovo Tower, Illovo Reservoir, Marlboro Reservoir, Marlboro direct feed, Linbro Park Reservoir, Linbro Park direct feed, Rand Water Direct Feed (Greenstone Hills Exts & Long Meadow), Modderhill Reservoir, Randjieslaagte Reservoir, Morningside Reservoir, Bryanston Tower.
South Hills:
South Hills zones and suburbs.
Alexandra Park Reservoir:
Alexander Park zones and suburbs.

Tshwane Areas

Pretoria West:
Attridgeville HL and LL Reservoir, Laudium Reservoir, Erasmia Reservoir, Lotus Gardens Reservoir.
East of Pretoria:
Blair Athol Reservoir.
Pretoria North:
Kruisfontein Reservoir, Mabopane Reservoir, Magaliesburg Reservoir, Soshanguve DD & L Reservoirs, Winterveld Reservoir, Akasia Reservoir.
Centurion:
Bakenkop Reservoir, Brakfontein Reservoir, Clifton Reservoir, Louwlardia Reservoir, Mnandi Reservoir, Raslouw Reservoir, Rooishuiskraal Reservoir, Sunderland Ridge Reservoir, The Reeds Reservoir, Valhalla Reservoir, Kosmosdal Connection, Heuweloord Reservoir.
Garankuwa Systems:
Ga-Rankuwa Reservoirs.

Recovery Timeline and Mitigation Efforts

Johannesburg Water has warned that some systems may take 3–5 days to fully recover after the maintenance is completed. The Palmiet Booster Pumping Station, which supplies water to the O2 pipeline, will reduce capacity by 400 megalitres per day during the project. This reduction is expected to cause lower water pressure or, in some cases, complete outages in the affected areas.

To mitigate the impact, Rand Water will boost reservoir levels wherever possible before and during the maintenance period.