Southern Aqueduct progress brings a planned 48-hour water interruption

Durban has commissioned another section of its Southern Aqueduct upgrade. Separate connection work in Westville is scheduled to interrupt supply in parts of the Inner West, Central and South regions.

The shutdown window is 06:00 on Tuesday, 29 September, to 06:00 on Thursday, 1 October. Contractors on Work Package 6 need those two days to build and tie in two major connection chambers in Westville. The city says the cut will touch parts of the Inner West, Central and South regions.

Who should check their supply area?

The municipal notice identifies affected supply areas across those three regions. Residents and businesses need to check their reservoir or supply zone against the city’s schedule, because the interruption does not cover every property in the regions named. The project’s total service population is also larger than the group affected by this particular shutdown.

What has been commissioned

The interruption coincides with progress elsewhere on the project. SAnews reported on 28 September that eThekwini had commissioned a section of Work Package 2 between Shallcross and Northdene. That package includes a 3.8-kilometre pipeline.

Project executive Siduduzo Mtshali said the additional route would reduce reliance on an ageing line and allow maintenance or repairs to the older infrastructure with less disruption to bulk supply.

Work Packages 1 and 3 have already been commissioned, while Packages 4, 5 and 6 remain under construction. The overall upgrade comprises approximately 24 kilometres of bulk pipeline feeding 33 reservoirs, with the completed system intended to strengthen supply for about 1.2 million residents.

Commissioning a section makes that infrastructure available for use. It does not mean that every part of the wider upgrade has been finished. The Westville connection work is one of the remaining construction steps.

The shutdown and recovery window

For affected households, the practical issue is the scheduled two-day interruption. The city’s published window runs from 06:00 on 29 September to 06:00 on 1 October, in South African time. Completion of the work and reopening of the system are followed by refilling and pressure recovery, which can vary by supply area.

Residents should use the latest municipal update to check whether the work remains on schedule and whether any local arrangements have changed. Those with stored water should use it carefully through the interruption and recovery period.

The longer-term benefit will depend on the upgraded pipeline providing reliable capacity once the remaining work is complete. This week, the immediate milestone is completing the Westville connections and restoring the affected supply systems.