Three Johannesburg suburbs were left without water on Sunday after pipes burst, Johannesburg Water said.

Although they were operating on a skeleton staff, a stand-by team was working on the problem, which began on Saturday night, in Sunninghill, Bryanston and Buccleuch, spokesman Baldwin Matsimela said.

"We are aware of the water shortages in some streets around those areas. The municipal strike affected us badly, but our stand-by teams are attending to the problems. They have to move from one area to the next."

He said everything should be back to normal again on Monday, when all employees returned to work.