The Kouga
Municipality has taken a major step to mitigate against dams running dry by
completing the first of four water purifying plants to ensure safe drinking
water from boreholes.
According
to Vicky Knoetze, Tsitsi-Kouga Constituency Leader, the first plant has been
constructed at the Jeffreys Bay Water Treatment Works (WTW) and will remove
iron and manganese from borehole water.
She
said a second plant is currently being constructed at the same WTW and will be
completed by the end of this month.
Knoetze
said two more plants are being planned for Humansdorp and St Francis Bay.
Currently,
borehole water is fed into the existing water reticulation system where it is
blended with treated dam water.
“When
this project is finalised the Kouga Municipality will be able to provide
potable borehole water to its residents, even if the Churchill Dam runs dry. By doing this Kouga will successfully end its dependency on dam water and avoid Day
Zero by only making use of groundwater,” said Knoetze.
She
further said this will however only be necessary in the event of dams running
dry, and not before.
“Over
the past five years, under the leadership of Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks,
Kouga has spent more than R200 million on water augmentation and drought
mitigation projects,” said Knoetze.
“A
network of 38 boreholes has been created which will ensure that towns such as
Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Hankey will have water
reticulation upon dam depletion.
“The
Kouga Municipality has also completed the installation of 90% of its emergency
water points.”
