The Journey Inward

I’m not sure if this makes worldwide news, but Johannesburg has been experiencing a water crisis, with areas having no water for days or even weeks at a time. At first, it was seen in the poor sections, but now even the wealthy parts, such as Sandton, are experiencing it.

From what I understand, this is happening for several reasons. First, the pipes are old and defective, crumbling in many places. The infrastructure has not been updated in over 30 years. It is not maintained or serviced well.

Second, there are breaches in the pipes in many places, resulting in about 30% of the water being wasted. You can see it spurting out of the pipes in different areas.

There is some debate over whether there is enough water in the dams to be pumped into Joburg. With the rainy season we’ve had, some say the dams are full, but it is the pipes at fault. Others say that there is not enough water to meet demand. Rand water handles the supply, while Joburg Water handles the infrastructure.

Finally, there have been explosions and maintenance issues at the treatment plants, further complicating matters.

Joburg is one of the few major cities of the world not built near water. Instead, it comes from 100 miles away from the Vaal Dam.

There are accusations that the water crisis is just now being taken seriously because it’s impacting the wealthy and they are complaining.

Pretoria has not been affected, though residents throughout South Africa own JoJo tanks like the one pictured below to be prepared should they lose water. Although being without is inconvenient, people here are used to it and are very resourceful.