Johannesburg water outages today (31 October 2026): affected areas, causes and when water returns

Update (08:45 SAST, 1 November 2026): The outages have carried into Sunday. Johannesburg Water is throttling 13 reservoirs, towers and supply points for 24 hours, and several reservoirs are still critically low. Follow the latest in Johannesburg water outages today (1 November 2026).

Johannesburg's water problems have carried into Saturday, 31 October 2026. Johannesburg Water's latest system boards, issued on Friday evening, show Morningside, Grand Central, Erand Tower, Crown Gardens, Cosmo City and Honeydew still critically low, while a burst pipe has cut water in parts of Rivonia (Midrand notice, 30 Oct 20:05; Randburg board, 30 Oct 18:30). There is still no restoration time.

There is some good news. Bryanston Tower pumping has resumed, Illovo Reservoir is supplying fairly, and Linbro Park and Marlboro are back to adequate supply (Sandton board, 30 Oct 19:00).

Which Johannesburg areas have no water today?

These are Johannesburg Water's latest official statuses from Friday evening. All times are SAST.

On Saturday morning, Johannesburg Water told customers on X that Berea, Diepsloot and Diepkloof reservoirs are supplying fairly but not adequately, so some areas may still get low pressure, intermittent supply or no water (Berea reply; Diepsloot reply). Johannesburg Water has not published street lists. If you are not sure which reservoir supplies you, check johannesburgwater.co.za or ask on @JHBWater.

Why is the water still off?

Johannesburg Water says the Midrand systems are still hit by poor incoming supply (Midrand notice), and its earlier statement blamed poor incoming supply and high demand that stop reservoirs and towers from recovering (media statement, 29 Oct). It also said a strike is affecting operations and delaying responses to critical service issues (Johannesburg Water, 29 Oct).

To build up storage, it throttled or closed several outlets from Friday afternoon or evening until about 05:00 on Saturday, with cuts of 50% to 100%. These include Orange Farm High Level, Lenasia High Level, Lenasia Hospital Hill, Lawley and the President Park outlet, with rotations at pump stations such as Yeoville, Rabie Ridge, Protea Glen, Witpoortjie, Bryanston, Illovo and Grand Central (Management of systems notice).

When will water return?

No restoration times have been given. Johannesburg Water says Grand Central Tower pumping will resume once incoming supply improves and reservoir levels recover sufficiently (Midrand notice). For the Rivonia burst pipe, it says there is no estimated time of restoration yet (customer notice). Supply in throttled areas should improve after the overnight closures end, but Johannesburg Water warns times can change (Management of systems notice).

Are water restrictions coming?

Johannesburg Water has proposed stricter Level 1 restrictions to cut demand by about 15%: no garden watering between 06:00 and 18:00, spray nozzles on hosepipes, no hosing down paving and no wetting building sand. It says it will consider Level 2 if demand keeps rising (media statement, 29 Oct).

What should I do and who do I call?

Use water sparingly and store some in clean, sealed containers when supply returns. Johannesburg Water says alternative supply may be provided with affected ward councillors where possible (Midrand notice).

Source: Johannesburg Water.

Earlier coverage: 30 October.