Cape Town water pressure crisis: Who’s impacted and what’s causing it
Officials are urging Cape Town residents, from University Estate to Camps Bay, to significantly cut back on their water use.
The City of Cape Town has urged residents to reduce their water consumption as it works to restore full water supply following a major mechanical failure at the Molteno Reservoir Pump Station in Oranjezicht.
The technical fault caused widespread disruptions, leaving areas from the City Bowl to the Atlantic Seaboard with low water pressure or no water at all.
The crisis started on Monday when an unexpected mechanical failure in both transfer pumps and a faulty transformer forced the City to take the Molteno Reservoir Pump Station offline.
Since then, emergency repair crews have worked around the clock to resolve the problem, but ongoing complications have continued to delay progress.
The latest setback came on Thursday when a suction valve was found open during a test run. This has now led to the dismantling of a pump due to a problem with its drive-side mechanical seal, the City said in a statement.
More water production in other areas
Despite these challenges at Molteno, there is a silver lining. The Kloof Nek Water Treatment Plant has ramped up its production from 14 to 19 million litres per day.
This has allowed some areas to regain partial water service – though at significantly reduced pressure. Residents and businesses are still being asked to urgently reduce their consumption.
The water pressure situation remains precarious
Unless residents urgently cut down on their water consumption, the system will struggle to recover, said City officials.
This is particularly critical in areas where water supply has been restored. High demand could deplete reservoirs faster than they can be replenished, risking further outages.
“Our team remains committed to completing this repair as urgently as possible and aims to restore the affected residents’ water supply as soon as possible,” said Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
“Once repairs are finalised, the line will be recharged, which may take a few hours before full water supply is restored to all affected areas.”
Affected Cape Town neighbourhoods include:
Gardens, Oranjezicht, Tamboerskloof, Schotsche Kloof/Bo-Kaap, Higgovale, Upper City Bowl, Bantry Bay, Fresnaye, Green Point, parts of Sea Point, Walmer Estate, University Estate, Upper Woodstock, District Six, Vredehoek, Camps Bay and Oudekraal.
Water tankers have been dispatched to assist residents and are located at the following points:
- Bantry Bay: Corner of Ocean View Drive and De Wet Road
- Green Point: Corner of Carreg Crescent and Ocean View Drive
- Bo-Kaap: Yusuf Drive, corner of Bantam Road
- Gardens: Myrtle Street
- Gardens: Hof Street (in front of the Mediclinic)
- Bo-Kaap: Astana Street
- Walmer Estate: Corner of Chester and Melbourne roads
The City has noted that its operational teams continue to work tirelessly to complete emergency repairs at the Molteno Pump Station and reroute water where possible to reduce the impact.
“Ward councillors will also be kept up to date on the progress of the work to ensure effective communication to residents,” added Badroodien.