Underground fire triggers citywide water and traffic woes

An underground fire on Sunday night that primarily affected high voltage cables, while quickly isolated with repairs implemented through the night, is having an impact on water supply to large parts of Johannesburg.

The power interruptions resulting from the fire and the isolation of affected substations led to water pumps going down .

The incident comes after warnings from the Gauteng provincial government and Joburg Water urging residents to curb water consumption as rising demand and warmer weather cause reservoir and tower storage levels to drop, even when systems are pumping at full capacity.

On Monday City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said the utility was aiming to restore full power supply by the end of the day, “subject to the extent of the damage and the work required”.

The incident happened on Sunday when the Fordsburg substation was isolated at 5pm as a safety precaution after smoke was detected in the underground cable tunnels. This was done to protect personnel and the electricity network while the source was investigated.

Local ward councillor Jakes Karolia informed residents: “Please be advised that all 88kV transformer breakers at Fordsburg substation were opened under emergency conditions at 5.11pm after the detection of smoke at the substation while teams were attending to a trip.”

Mangena said: “This resulted in a wider interruption across the interconnected network. The impact extended to substations and switching stations,… affecting residential areas, businesses and critical services across parts of Johannesburg.”

Of particular concern, he said, was the impact on bulk water service provider Rand Water, which was unable to pump during the electricity supply interruption, meaning water supply to large parts of Johannesburg, Soweto and the West Rand was affected.

“City Power recognises the importance of Rand Water’s operations and the broader impact a prolonged interruption to pumping may have on water supply. The assessment of the affected network will therefore take into account critical services as teams determine how the system can be safely re-energised. However, given the extent of the interruption, electricity supply is not expected to be fully restored today,” Mangena said.

On Monday, Joburg Water noted Rand Water had advised that power to the critical Eikenhof pump station had been restored during the early hours of the morning, with pumping capacity reaching 80% by 4.30am.

However, by 7am operations were not back to full capacity, meaning large parts of Joburg, the West Rand, Soweto, Kensington, Linden, Robertville, Lenasia and surrounds would continue to experience water supply challenges throughout the day.

The Johannesburg Water Crisis Group noted: “What makes this particular incident especially serious is the cascading effect across the network. The isolation of a single key substation has affected several downstream substations, disrupted electricity supply across multiple areas, and is also compromising Rand Water’s ability to pump.