Rand Water doubles water restrictions as city reservoirs run dry -- water cuts are the new load shedding, say residents.

When students in Auckland Park don't have water, they can't wash and can't attend class, says Kelsey Glennon, a lecturer at Wits University and member of the Melville Residents' Association. For all of 2022, the water supply in the southwest of Johannesburg and north of the city has been on and off, and in August, it went off completely in many areas.

"I can deal without lights, but not without water," says Carly Naidoo of Westdene, who, along with neighbours, has experienced water cuts almost daily in 2022. "It goes off in the morning and comes on briefly in the evening," she says.

Tanks to collect water, wheelie bins filled with water and a run on bottled water are stories sprinkled across the city. Now Day Zero has come for millions of Johannesburg residents as water systems were shut down to allow reservoirs to refill on Tuesday.

Brixton resident and University of Johannesburg Professor Emeritus Karen von Veh has had no water for four weeks.

"Our taps are completely dry -- not even a trickle overnight," said Von Veh in...