The water supply has been restored at OR Tambo following an outage on Sunday evening, which spilled over into Monday.
The outage came about following a sudden loss of water pressure from the main reservoir pumps. Upon investigation, it was determined that the interruption was caused by a dislocated water supply line. This occurred during excavation work for a sewage line when the trench collapsed, affecting the pipe and temporarily disrupting the water supply.
"The water supply has now been fully restored. Our technical team acted swiftly to repair the damaged line and ensure safe and reliable service. The water interruption was limited to certain terminal areas and did not affect flight schedules. The airport continued to operate as normal. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate the understanding and patience of our passengers and stakeholders during this time," Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) confirmed to Time Out Johannesburg.
Original Story:
The OR Tambo International Airport is experiencing a temporary water outage, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) announced on Monday morning.
Both local and international travellers, along with airport staff, were inconvenienced as the water outage disrupted access to ablution facilities. The water went out in the early hours of the morning.
Restaurants, cafés, and retail stores inside the airport have also been impacted. Many are unable to operate at full capacity due to the lack of running water.
"Notice: Please be advised that the airport is currently experiencing a temporary water outage. As a result, ablution facilities are affected," announced Airports Company South Africa in a statement.
The state-owned company assured the public that water would be restored as soon as possible.
"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience, technicians are working diligently to restore the water supply as soon as possible."
Passengers are advised to plan accordingly until the water supply is restored.
More about OR Tambo
OR Tambo international airport was founded in 1952.
It was previously called Johannesburg International Airport and prior to that was called Jan Smuts Airport.
OR Tambo is the biggest and busiest airport in Gauteng. It reportedly facilitates over 21 million passengers and has the capacity to facilitate 28 million passengers per annum.
The airport recently underwent renovations. In June, ACSA announced that it is implementing a comprehensive infrastructure maintenance and capital expansion programme across all nine of its airports - OR Tambo, Cape Town International, King Shaka International, Bram Fischer International, Chief Dawid Stuurman International, Upington International, King Phalo Airport, George Airport and Kimberley Airport.
The upgrades include sewerage systems, ablution facilities, and fire escapes.
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