RUSTENBURG HERALD - RUSTENBURG - Rustenburg Local Municipality (RLM) is supplied by 2 bulk water supply boards - Rand Water and Magalies Water. Both the Rand Water and Magalies Water schemes are currently under strain due to reduced water supply.
City Power in Gauteng experienced failure on the feeder board at Eikenof substation, after one of the isolators experienced a flash-over last night. This subsequently affected the dedicated transformer supplying power, to the Rand Water Eikenhof pump station. This pump station dedicates supply to Rustenburg through the Barnardsvlei system.
These were the opening remarks of Rustenburg's Executive Mayor - Cllr Shiela Mabale-Huma during a media briefing on the water crisis experienced in Rustenburg over the past two weeks.
This has left Rustenburg without any supply coming in from the Rand Water Scheme. The Rand Water Supply Scheme has been experiencing power cuts since the 2nd of March 2024 which has resulted in a drastic reduction of supply. The command reservoirs on the scheme now sit below 2%. City Power has indicated that repairs at the Eikenhof pump station are estimated to be completed today at 6 PM. Once power is restored, Rand Water will pump at full capacity. Recovery for the Barnardsvlei and Rustenburg South reservoirs is estimated to be 2 weeks for the reservoir’s levels, to rise. Johannesburg Water together with Rand Water will implement water rationing to ensure recovery time is reduced for the Barnardsvlei system which is downstream of the Eikenhof system. The Magalies Water Supply from the Vaalkop Scheme has been experiencing water interruptions, due to a raw water pump failure experienced on Sunday, 3 March 2024 at the Vaalkop Water Treatment Plant. This has led to reduced pumping rates at plant number 3 which is connected through an integrated network supplying the Bospoort and Kortbegrip Reservoirs. Magalies Water has dispatched the pump for assessment and repairs with no timeline provided at this moment. The Magalies Water Bospoort reservoir currently sits at 39%. The outlet of this reservoir was closed yesterday at 9 AM and the reservoir level only increased by 34% after 24 hours. RLM has intensified water restrictions on all their reservoirs to avoid depleting the system and residents are encouraged to use water sparingly during this period. Currently with no supply on both schemes, Rustenburg LM is also faced with no access to water supply for water tankering services. We understand the significant inconvenience caused to our residents and businesses and would like to extend our sincere apologies for the disruptions, the Rustenburg Municipality said in a media briefing on Tuesday on the current water crisis. "The Rustenburg Local Municipality is resolute in its pursuit of sustainable and robust solutions to safeguard against such occurrences in the future. The community's patience and co-operation are immensely appreciated during this period. I would like to assure residents that, every possible measure is being undertaken to ensure a reliable water supply is maintained throughout the Rustenburg Local Municipality", the Executive Mayor - Shiela Mabale-Huma said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
