How close is the JHB water grid really from collapsing?

NR7 said:
Do you fill yours with rainwater?
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Yes - I installed them during our last drought so rainwater harvesting made the most sense. We have about 12kl across three tanks of varying sizes.
 
ShaunSA said:
PE's Day Zero will arrive first.... that's been what a decade in the making now?
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Difference is highveld has a full vaal dam right now but they can't supply the water. I've had more than 10 outages in my area in the past month and other areas are worse with prolonged outages and yet we're expected to believe this is normal.
 
Flanders said:
Difference is highveld has a full vaal dam right now but they can't supply the water. I've had more than 10 outages in my area in the past month and other areas are worse with prolonged outages and yet we're expected to believe this is normal.
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It's the new normal. Adapt or die
 
maumau said:
What's involved in the maintenance Bwana? I've been thinking of getting one but the idea of cleaning out sludge etc is putting me off?
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For interest sake, we have a 5kl tank, fed exclusively by municipal water, after which is a DAB Eysbox Mini pump the supplies our entire property via a 3 stage filter with a UV filter. We run via the tank, pump and filters constantly unless there is an issue and we then switch over to just using the municipal supply. We do have a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter system on our kitchen tap so all our drinking, food prep and cooking water is filtered twice, with filters replaced once a year. We had the tank system installed last year August so I plan to open the tank this month and have a look inside but doubt I will need to do anything.
 
Flanders said:
🤡 :X3:

Two years later and still very much collapsing, as though this was ever in doubt.
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The government acknowledged over the weekend that 56% of the country's treated water is lost due to leaks and poor maintenance... I'd bet they're lowballing us and we're actually far worse off than they're willing to admit.
 
bwana said:
The government acknowledged over the weekend that 56% of the country's treated water is lost due to leaks and poor maintenance... I'd bet they're lowballing us and we're actually far worse off than they're willing to admit.
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Well, considering that CoCT's ratio is 24%, and I'll bet most of the other Western Cape municipalities are similar, the rest of the country will have to be really bad to get the average to 56%.
 
WollieVerstege said:
Well, considering that CoCT's ratio is 24%, and I'll bet most of the other Western Cape municipalities are similar, the rest of the country will have to be really bad to get the average to 56%.
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It's non revenue water, which is not just leaks but also include water that's consumed but not paid for, e.g informal settlements.
 
bwana said:
The government acknowledged over the weekend that 56% of the country's treated water is lost due to leaks and poor maintenance... I'd bet they're lowballing us and we're actually far worse off than they're willing to admit.
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How much do you estimate the figure to be and based on what?
 
TheChamp said:
It's non revenue water, which is not just leaks but also include water that's consumed but not paid for, e.g informal settlements.
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Does the watering of parks and pavements etc also fall under this?
 
Neuk_ said:
For interest sake, we have a 5kl tank, fed exclusively by municipal water, after which is a DAB Eysbox Mini pump the supplies our entire property via a 3 stage filter with a UV filter. We run via the tank, pump and filters constantly unless there is an issue and we then switch over to just using the municipal supply. We do have a 5 stage reverse osmosis filter system on our kitchen tap so all our drinking, food prep and cooking water is filtered twice, with filters replaced once a year. We had the tank system installed last year August so I plan to open the tank this month and have a look inside but doubt I will need to do anything.
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Sounds great tks Neuk.

Perhaps this is the way to go then - use Jojo water by default so it doesn't stagnate. I like it a lot!!

Do you think 1000l would be enough for 1 person or shall I check my monthly usage and maybe double that?
 
maumau said:
Sounds great tks Neuk.

Perhaps this is the way to go then - use Jojo water by default so it doesn't stagnate. I like it a lot!!

Do you think 1000l would be enough for 1 person or shall I check my monthly usage and maybe double that?
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Check usage and divide by 4 for every week of backup you need. You just have to remember to change the filters every 6-12 months.

I have the same setup as @Neuk_ but 2,500l which gets us a week. We can push 2 weeks in a pinch. Haven't yet gone without water in the past year and there's been 4 outages. People usually start raging by the 3rd day, I used to be one of them, but now it's a source of entertainment...
 
maumau said:
Sounds great tks Neuk.

Perhaps this is the way to go then - use Jojo water by default so it doesn't stagnate. I like it a lot!!

Do you think 1000l would be enough for 1 person or shall I check my monthly usage and maybe double that?
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Like @Mike Hoxbig suggests, get an idea of your use, daily or weekly and go from there. We are a family of four so can easily use up to 800l a day which is why I went for a 5kl tank. In the event of an outage we will limit use to maximise how long the tank lasts but we can still live fairly 'normally'. I would also recommend looking at a VSD pump like our DAB, they are more expensive, our DAB is one of the most expensive but JoJo has options as well. It will minimise electricity use and potential water hammer affect. I went for our DAB because they are really great pumps, it is a VSD and is IoT so I have it integrated in to Home Assistant, can set water pressure, can reduce water pressure overnight, put it in holiday mode, boost mode, monitor water use live and historically, etc.
 
TheChamp said:
It's non revenue water, which is not just leaks but also include water that's consumed but not paid for, e.g informal settlements.
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Are you trying to make out that informal settlements steal as much water as they do electricity? :)
 
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