To wean itself from surface water and ensure that taps never run dry, the Kouga Municipality has installed four water purifying plants to treat borehole water and help it use less dam water.
With these purification plants, the largest in Africa at municipal level, the metro is aiming at completely turning around the 80:20 ratio of the use of dam water in relation to underground water to 30:70. The plants were constructed in Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, Hankey and St Francis Bay at existing water treatments over the last three years to specifically treat borehole water by removing iron and manganese.
This means that there will be a drastic increase in the volume of borehole water the municipality can now use, which in turn reduces the demand on the existing water supply from the Kouga and Churchill dams.
During an oversight visit to the recently installed plant in Jeffreys Bay on Monday, newly elected Kouga Mayor, Hattingh Bornman, said that the municipality had taken great strides in securing its own water.
This is especially significant because this metro has been affected by a crippling drought.
“The process of this groundbreaking purification plant is fairly new, and these plants are the largest in Africa to make use of this process for municipal supply,” Bornman said.
The process includes the water being filtrated in filters containing glass filter media on top and synthol filter media – which remove the remaining iron and manganese as well as any metallic taste or smell – at the bottom.
“At full capacity, an estimated 15 megalitres per day can be treated by the four plants.”
Bornman added, “Kouga’s average water consumption stands at 18 megalitres a day. If the borehole water is managed correctly, Kouga will not run totally dry in the eventuality that the dams cannot supply the water demand.
He added that the state-of-the-art purification plant would ensure Kouga had not only enough water but clean water as well.”
The DA leader in the Eastern Cape, Andrew Whitfield, said that the purification plants played a large role in mitigating the drought to avoid a Day Zero situation.
“Kouga Municipality has demonstrated incredible innovation, proactive planning and efficient execution of projects on time,” Whitfield added.
Kouga’s next step is finalising a plan to ensure its independence from Eskom.
An ongoing feasibility study is currently underway to determine the viability of an alternative means of renewable energy and power generation by independent power producers.
The study is investigating the construction of a 20 MW plant which will supply a third of Kouga’s average electricity use.
The goal is to generate 60 MW of electricity, which will ensure the municipality’s independence from Eskom.
“Once Kouga is off the grid from an electricity point of view, as well as a water point of view, it will become the top investment destination in the Eastern Cape,” Whitfield said.
