Help us continue to do this work. Become a supporter
Support this work
Our World in Charts

Our World in Charts is a unique collection of hundreds of charts published by The Outlier. The charts cover key issues both in South Africa and around the world on topics such as education, economy, politics, sport and more. Republish our charts for free.

Click To View More Charts
Water-close-to-empty-standalone
  • Water supply to +440 Joburg suburbs disrupted in late 2024
  • Levels of at least 26 reservoirs were very or critically low or empty
  • Joburg Water blames substation repairs, hot weather for supply issues

The levels in at least 26 reservoirs and water towers that supply Johannesburg with water were very or critically low or empty at the end of 2024, according to updates by Joburg Water. As a result, the water supply to homes in at least 440 suburbs was affected in October and November.

In some cases Joburg Water refers to problematic ‘systems’ rather than reservoirs and towers – systems are networks of connected towers and reservoirs which provide water to a number of suburbs. In these instances it is difficult to identify which suburbs were affected.

On 17 November, for example, City Power’s repair to the Eikenhof substation affected several water systems. Joburg Water said the Commando system – which supplies areas including Northcliff, Auckland Park and Coronationville – took over a week to recover.

A surge in problems reported between 1 and 4 November was blamed on hot weather.

— 12 December, 2024

Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this

Read by 10k+ professionals every week ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Our charts have been featured in ...
BusinessTech
Daily Investor
Daily Maverick
Experian
GroundUp
MoneyWeb
MyBroadband
Reuters
The Continent
The Conversation
The Open Letter
The South African
Times Live
Top Auto
Vestact