Rand Water to restrict water supply to Johannesburg and Tshwane

To restrict or “throttle” a municipality means limiting the bulk water it receives to its permitted daily allocation. Rand Water says this is not a blanket reduction for every customer. It is a way to stop municipalities that exceed their limits from taking more than allowed, while protecting customers that comply.

Rand Water will first send warning letters, identify meters with excessive use, and discuss an agreement with the municipalities. It may then reduce the amount delivered to an overconsuming municipality. The supplier described this as keeping the municipality within its limit, rather than imposing an arbitrary cut.

The approach is aimed immediately at Johannesburg and Tshwane, which exceed their targets. Residents could experience low pressure or intermittent supply. Once water reaches a municipality, its metro decides how to distribute the reduced volume among neighbourhoods. Rand Water cannot choose whether Sandton or Midrand receives priority.

Johannesburg used an average of 1 724 million litres a day in September. Its licensed daily target was 1 528 million litres, so it exceeded that allocation by 196 million litres each day. Its January average was higher still, at 1 765 million litres a day.

Tshwane consumed 893 million litres daily in September. Its allocation was 752 million litres, putting it 141 million litres above its permitted amount. Together, the two metros were using 2 617 million litres a day against combined allocations of 2 280 million litres.

These figures explain why Rand Water is focusing on the two metros. The supplier says the system is severely constrained, while summer has not yet reached its peak. It is concerned about demand if current consumption continues rising or remains at these levels during peak summer conditions.

Johannesburg and Tshwane are exceeding their permitted daily volumes. Rand Water has repeatedly asked municipalities to reduce consumption, but says the water system remains severely constrained. It also points to leaks and illegal connections as practical problems that municipalities can tackle quickly. The article does not identify one confirmed cause for all the excess use.

The numbers show the pressure. Johannesburg used 1 724 million litres daily in September against 1 528 million litres permitted. Tshwane used 893 million litres against 752 million. Tshwane has been searching for and disconnecting illegal connections, but Rand Water says its own consumption figures have not yet changed accordingly.

Summer matters because demand may rise before the system has recovered. Maroo warned that the peak of summer had not arrived, asking what would happen if current figures continued into that period. Rand Water therefore plans to keep persistent overconsumers within their limits before demand becomes even harder to manage.

When restrictions begin, residents in affected municipalities could notice weaker water pressure or intermittent supply. Rand Water says it will limit deliveries to municipalities that exceed their permitted volumes. The likely effect depends on how each metro manages its distribution network after receiving less bulk water.

Rand Water cannot decide which neighbourhoods receive priority. If, for example, a metro receives 10% or 20% less water, that metro must determine where to channel the available supply. It can make decisions using information from its own consumption meters. Rand Water specifically said it cannot choose between areas such as Sandton and Midrand.

This means the same municipal reduction may not affect every neighbourhood equally. Johannesburg and Tshwane are the immediate focus because they are overconsuming. Their municipal authorities will control local distribution, while Rand Water controls the bulk supply entering the municipal system.

Leaks are breaks or losses in a municipal water system. Illegal connections are unapproved links to that system. Both can increase pressure on available supplies because water is being used or lost without being properly controlled. Rand Water tells municipalities to begin with these problems as relatively direct ways to reduce consumption.

Water consumed through illegal connections is classified as non-revenue water. That label means the water is counted as consumed, but it does not produce recorded revenue for the supplier or municipality. Maroo said illegal connections are difficult to quantify because of this classification. The volume can therefore be hard to separate from other system losses.

Tshwane has been searching for and disconnecting illegal connections. Its own reconciliations suggested the effort was helping, but Rand Water had not yet seen a matching change in Tshwane’s consumption figures. Until losses and unauthorised use fall, pressure on the constrained system remains.

Municipalities that stay within their allocations still depend on the same constrained bulk water system. If other municipalities take more than permitted, the overall system faces greater pressure. Rand Water warned that the effects can spread beyond the municipalities responsible for overconsumption.

Ekurhuleni illustrates the issue. It is the third major metro supplied by Rand Water and was complying with its allocation. Rand Water also thanked several smaller municipalities and the Royal Bafokeng Administration for remaining within their permitted limits. Yet the supplier said compliant customers could still suffer because the system must respond to excessive use elsewhere.

Rand Water called this unfair and said compliant municipalities should receive an equitable share. Its planned response is to restrict municipalities that continue exceeding their volumes, rather than reduce supplies across the board. That approach aims to protect compliant customers while bringing overconsumers back within their limits.

The article describes a two-stage system. Rand Water supplies bulk water to municipalities, including Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni. After water reaches a municipality, the metro manages its own distribution network and decides how to channel supplies to neighbourhoods, homes and businesses. The article does not describe every pipe or treatment step.

Meters help track where municipal consumption exceeds permitted volumes. Rand Water said it would identify the meters involved and discuss the figures with municipalities. If supply is reduced, the metro—not Rand Water—decides where the available water goes. Its choices can be based on consumption recorded by those meters.

Water can be lost through leaks in the system or used through illegal connections. The latter is classified as non-revenue water, making it difficult to quantify. These losses complicate management because Rand Water may not see the expected reduction in measured consumption even after a municipality takes corrective action.