Johannesburg Water publishes planned shutdowns up to 7 days ahead — but the notices are easy to miss, and unplanned pump failures arrive with zero warning. Tell us where you are and we’ll message you ahead of and during outages affecting your area. Free, outage alerts only, and you can stop them any time (reply STOP).
Outage log
Widespread disruption — repeated power trips at Eikenhof
Resolved
Midrand-area systems (Eikenhof), City of Johannesburg · Resolved 10 Sept, 00:00 (SAST)
Repeated power interruptions to Rand Water's Eikenhof system — which runs on City Power's supply — caused water disruption across Midrand-area systems. A joint Department of Water / Rand Water / Eskom / City Power committee was formed to fix the supply crisis.
Pump stations are electrically driven — any power trip or surge stops pumping and drains reservoirs and towers.
Keep your storage tank topped up and your pressure pump serviced so a sudden power trip doesn't leave you dry.
Six days without water — pump failure and plant power trip
Resolved
Midrand (Erand, President Park, Grand Central, Rabie Ridge, Diepsloot, Carlswald, Vorna Valley) · Resolved 06 Feb, 00:00 (SAST)
An emergency pump repair at Rand Water's Palmiet pump station (26 Jan), followed by a motor explosion and power failure in Engine Room 4 at Zuikerbosch plant (27 Jan), left Midrand without water for about six days. A later power failure at Palmiet (31 Jan) and a leak at the Klipfontein reservoir inlet (1 Feb) kept recovery slow.
A JoJo storage tank needs a pump and pressure vessel to run showers, toilets and taps during an outage.
Book a leak and pressure-pump check after an outage — re-pressurisation can burst pipes or stress failing pressure switches.
Five days without water — Palmiet maintenance overran
Resolved
Midrand (Noordwyk, Erand, Rabie Ridge, President Park, Kaalfontein, Grand Central, Randjesfontein) · Resolved 21 Dec, 12:00 (SAST)
A planned 48-hour Rand Water maintenance on the Palmiet system (13–15 Dec 2025) overran its deadline; reservoirs and towers ran critically low, so taps stayed dry into a fifth day. Johannesburg Water said the full recovery of a complex supply system takes several days after maintenance. (The 'five days without water' headline was carried by IOL/ANA; The Citizen covered the same event through its Midrand Reporter.)
Store water before planned cuts — recovery is slow and high-lying areas are last to see supply return.
Expect low pressure and sputtering taps as the network is 'bled' to clear airlocks after a shutdown.
Don't rely on tankers alone — during this event many tankers ran dry and queues stretched for hours.
By the Midrand Plumbers research team · Updated 03 October 2026 · Sources: The Citizen, IOL, TimesLIVE, Our City News, Daily Maverick, Johannesburg Water
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Where we watch: Johannesburg Water’s interruptions page and social channels (planned work, 7-day notice), Rand Water statements, the City of Johannesburg, and Midrand local coverage (Midrand Reporter, Our City News). When a notice or outage affects Midrand, the same message goes to this page, our Facebook Page and our WhatsApp Channel — and to subscribers who asked to be told.