With two, of four, plants for the purification of borehole water already completed, Kouga Municipality will soon be able to supply potable borehole water to residents.
Aimed at effectively dealing with the crippling water crisis, brought about by the ongoing drought, the purification plants are equipped with the latest engineering technology to treat and process borehole water to make it fit for human consumption.
Each plant comes with an installation cost of approximately R7 million.
The first was built at the Humansdorp water treatment works and will not only significantly improve the quality of the borehole water by removing iron and manganese through a chemical process using activated oxygen and synthol filter media, but it will also produce up to 6Ml of clean water per day feed to the reservoir.
The second plant, at the Jeffreys Bay water treatment works building, will add an additional 4Ml of water to the existing reservoir.
Two more plants are planned for Hankey and St Francis Bay. It is estimated that the plant in Hankey will be completed by the end of January, while the plant in St Francis Bay will be completed at the end of February – each providing 2ML water per day.
There are currently a total of 30 production wells in use.
The exploration, equipping of new boreholes and connection to the existing water treatment network are also high on the priority list – with up to 20 new boreholes planned.
A geohydrologist will be appointed for a period of three years to manage the boreholes, ensure the protection of the aquifer and maintain compliance with the requirements of the Department of Water and Sanitation.
