Yet another afternoon water-interruption was announced for residents of Kimberley on Wednesday, 25 October.
“This water-interruption is carried out to avoid a total shutdown of water supply to residents,” said the municipal manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality, Thapelo Matlala, in a press release.
The municipality said the interruption is scheduled for 13:00 to 16:00 starting this afternoon, over and above the nightly interruptions because of low levels at the Newton Reservoir in Kimberley.
This morning, many residents of Kimberley experienced low water pressure, or had no water at all.
Ever since the previous unexpected water shutdown on Saturday, 14 October, low water pressure was the norm.
According to Matlala, the municipality had major success the previous week with storage of water at the Newton Reservoir after fixing the siphon, changing chemicals, and revitalising the filter medium at the Riverton Water Treatment Works (WTW).
This improved the levels at the reservoir, and the biggest reservoir (102 megalitres) at Newton reached 14 feet (79%).
The water levels for this reservoir for the last week are as follow:
Thursday, 19 October: 10 feet
Friday, 20 October: 12,20 feet
Saturday, 21 October: 12,10 feet
Sunday, 22 October: 13,70 feet
Monday, 23 October: 14,20 feet
Tuesday, 24 October: 11,11 feet
Wednesday, 25 October: 9,40 feet
Matlala stated the sudden drop in levels are a result of two filter pumps undergoing repairs, leaving only one pump in operation at the old Riverton WTW.
The WTW have six filter tanks that require at least two pumps to fully operate. However, with one pump in operation, only four filters can be filled.
“Repairs in one of the pumps will be completed in the afternoon of Wednesday, 25 October, and all six filter tanks will be in operation, adding more capacity of treated water,” he said.
Under normal operation, Riverton WTW should be pumping at least 913 litres and 600 litres per second to the 900 mm and 600 mm diameter pipe respectively with three pressure booster pumps for at least 20 hours a day.
However, due to repairs on the filter pumps only two pressure booster pumps are in operation, affecting the pumping of water to the Newton Reservoir.
‘Working tirelessly’
Matlala said the municipality is working tirelessly to provide uninterrupted and reliable water to the residents of the Sol Plaatje Municipality.
For this to happen without hitches, the municipality appeal to residents and members of the public to stop watering their gardens and reserve water for consumption only.
This will ensure that water pumped into the reservoirs will help to reach the required levels that generate enough pressure to supply all areas in Kimberley town.
The community is encouraged to adopt water-conserving habits even during periods of normal supply.
During the water interruption, schools, clinics, and hospitals that do not have water storage will be provided water through the water tank.
Warning of more water shutdowns
Late last week Kimberley residents and business owners were once again urged to prepare for more water shutdowns, without any warning, “before the end of November”.
This follows yet another water shutdown in the Northern Cape capital. The water was shut off on Saturday, 14 October, at about 10:00, and most areas only had water again on the morning of Tuesday, 17 October.
“But it was off early, and on Wednesday, 18 October, there was no water available,” stated Dudley Dally, president of the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nocci).
He said there were no straightforward answers on this from the Sol Plaatje Municipality, “with ratepayers being kept in the dark”.
Reasons provided by the municipality vary from a high demand of water due to the heat wave to faulty valves, exhausted filter sand at the Riverton Water Purification Plant (WPP), a shortage of chemicals to purify water, only two of the high-lift pumps being in use, challenges with a transformer, and main pipelines experiencing more leaks.
Dally said there were still 25 major leaks on the 600 mm and 965 mm pipelines that needed to be repaired, with the major leaks on the 600 mm pipeline still draining into Kamfersdam, with sewage overflow.
In 2013 a contractor who was fixing leaks on this line strongly recommended that this length of pipe be replaced urgently.
“This is the pipe that is being repaired every year,” Dally said.
Furthermore, at the Newton reservoirs there are only two pumps in operation, with the other four “nowhere to be found”, and with the remaining pumps leaking, “it is a disaster waiting to happen”.
The municipality received a R2,5 billion grant from the National Treasury for the complete repairing and upgrading of the water supply system to Kimberley.
The first shutdown had to be executed for the municipality to receive the first R500 million for the repairs.
Of this, there are still plenty of projects to be completed, such as the installation of flow meters along the pipelines, and the repairing of leaks.
In a press release, Kobus van den Berg of the VF Plus stated the municipality admitted at the launch of an engineering report on 19 October that the Riverton WPP – built around the 1960s – cannot keep up with the water demand.
“Residents must make plans to store water for drinking, and to use water sparingly; another example where civilians have to step in where government institutions failed,” Van den Berg said.
