21-Day Water Outage in Johannesburg: Areas Affected and How to Prepare

Johannesburg is set to endure a challenging 21-day water outage beginning on 30 June 2025, as Rand Water launches a large-scale maintenance program across the city’s critical water supply systems. The planned maintenance, which will run until 21 July 2025, is aimed at improving long-term infrastructure efficiency, but it will come with significant short-term disruption for residents and businesses alike.

ALSO READ: Rand Water Pours R400 Million into Maintenance While Gauteng Endures Extended Water Outages

Water Outage: Widespread Impact Across Joburg

The scheduled maintenance will affect multiple major water systems, including:

• Commando System (Hursthill, Brixton, Crosby)
• Lenasia Systems
• Randburg
• Roodepoort Systems
• Soweto Systems
• Crown Gardens Reservoir
• Eagles Nest Reservoir
• Aeroton Reservoir

During the initial phase, no water pumping will occur for six hours. This will be followed by 50% pumping capacity for 42 hours, then 80% pumping capacity for the remaining 19 days. Residents in these areas can expect either complete outages or very low water pressure during the period.

Maintenance Follows Emergency Repairs

This extensive 21-day outage comes just weeks after emergency repairs were completed on the F12/F39 bulk pipeline, which had already left Johannesburg Water’s reserves critically low. While those emergency repairs concluded on 21 May, Johannesburg Water cautioned that the system still needs time to recover and rebuild capacity fully.

Cooler Months Chosen for The Water Outage For Maximum Efficiency

According to Rand Water, the maintenance has been strategically scheduled during winter, a season of lower water demand, to minimize impact during the peak summer season starting in August. The goal is to enhance plant availability, system reliability, and operational efficiency across Rand Water’s Vereeniging, Zuikerbosch, and Zwartkopjes systems.

“This is the ideal time of year to perform planned maintenance, to ensure the system is strong and resilient for high-demand periods,” Rand Water noted.

Additional Scheduled Outages to Compound Pressure

In addition to the 21-day outage, residents must also prepare for several other shorter but disruptive maintenance operations:

• 3 June 2025: A 10-hour outage due to Klipriviersberg isolation and inspection will reduce pumping to 67% capacity, affecting:
  • Sandton Systems
  • Alexander Park Reservoir
  • South Hills Tower
  • Randjieslaagte Reservoir
  • Linksfield Reservoir
  • Midrand Systems
• 30 June – 2 July 2025: A 48-hour pipe repair operation at the Zuikerbosch Plant will also impact the Eikenhof System, mirroring the outage pattern of six hours with no pumping, 42 hours at 50% capacity, and the rest at 80%.
• 30 June – 2 July 2025: Valve replacements at Zwartkopjes Station will halt pumping for 50 hours, affecting:
  • Crown Gardens
  • Eagles Nest Reservoir
  • Parktown
  • Berea
  • Forest Hill
  • Alan Manor
  • Naturena
  • Hector Norris Pump Station

Prolonged Recovery Times Expected

Joburg Water warns that full recovery will not be immediate once maintenance is complete. Areas supplied by large systems, like Midrand and Sandton, may take several days to return to normal water supply levels.

“Reservoirs must rebuild capacity first before full water pressure can be restored,” the utility said.

How Residents Should Prepare

To help ease the burden, Johannesburg Water will deploy water tankers and establish temporary water points in the most affected areas. However, officials are urging all residents to store sufficient water ahead of the scheduled outages.

Tips to prepare:

• Store at least 2–5 liters of drinking water per person per day
• Fill up buckets and containers for toilet flushing and basic hygiene
• Freeze water in bottles to use as it melts
• Avoid non-essential water usage during this period

With one of the longest planned water outages in recent history, Johannesburg residents are being called to act fast and prepare. While the maintenance work is essential for improving water supply resilience in the long term, it will temporarily strain households and businesses.

Stay informed, store water early, and monitor official updates from Joburg Water for tanker routes and recovery timelines.