An intervention to address critical maintenance of Kimberley’s bulk water supply infrastructure is underway, and three contracts with a total construction value of R88,26 million have been awarded.
Lack of maintenance over years at the old and new water treatment plant at Riverton next to the Vaal River, from where Kimberley gets its water, is a main reason for these plants being dysfunctional, and not being able to purify and pump water at full capacity.
As part of the extensive maintenance process, water supply interruptions in the next months are inevitable, said Rikus Rossouw, engineer at Bigen Africa.
During a special media visit to the old and new plant on Wednesday, 6 March, Rossouw said the old plant can be functional within a couple of weeks.
The full functionality of the old plant is needed since much of the maintenance needed at the new plant will require a full water shutdown. Wherever possible, maintenance is done without such a shutdown. As far as possible, water shutdowns will be planned and communicated, said Thapelo Matlala, municipal manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality.
However, a major leak at Midstation in the vicinity of the 3 South African Infantry Battalion (3 SAI) at Roodepan might be a reason for an unplanned and urgent water shutdown in the near future.
Rossouw says a gasket on this bulk water supply line started leaking in December. When a valve was replaced in November in the same chamber, the gasket was not yet leaking. According to Rossouw, it is common for a gasket to perish with time. To replace this gasket, a full water shutdown will be needed.
Drying the system, replacing the gasket, and refilling the system with water can take days, he says.
In a statement, Matlala provided more insight in the roll-out of the Budget Facility for Infrastructure Programme (BFI) to address critical maintenance on the municipality’s bulk water supply infrastructure.
As part of this roll-out, 35 projects are planned to reverse the water challenges through the R2,5 billion National Treasury BFI grant over the next seven years.
The three contracts that have been awarded so far are firstly for emergency meter installation, flow and quality monitoring; secondly for emergency leak repairs on priority leaks identified from the SmartBall survey; and thirdly, the fixing of the chlorine, chemical dosing, instrumentation and control at the new plant. A further two projects will be awarded by 15 March, with three others at a tender stage.
One small step towards full functionality was the fixing of the pre-chlorination process at the new plant which was dysfunctional for almost 12 years. Bigen Africa commenced with this in October, and in January it was fixed.
“There is no quick fix, but we are not stopping. Every day, small things to improve production and quality of water are fixed,” remarks Jihaad Suliman of Bigen Africa.
- Visit NoordkaapBulletin under “Publications” on news24.com to read the full story.
