With the scope of work carried out at this weekend’s water supply interruption, the Sol Plaatje Municipality aims for the nightly water supply interruptions in Kimberley to come to an end.
Residents from Kimberley will be affected by this water supply interruption from 18:00 on Thursday, 4 April until 18:00 on Monday, 8 April.
During the water shutdown, water losses emanating from four key major leaks will be addressed, stated Thabo Mothibi, communications manager at the municipality.
The major leak at Midstation, Roodepan, has “us on tenterhooks at this stage with the gasket in the chamber threatening to burst,” said Mothibi. Contractors have already occupied the site and necessary equipment has been commissioned to address emergency leak repairs.
The gasket on the 990 mm diameter butterfly valve started leaking in mid-December. The leak is getting worse by the day as the gasket is abraded due to the high pressure of water gushing through the leak.
Extensive draining of the bulk pipeline will stretch into two days, whilst the actual repair work at Midstation will last an estimated eight hours.
Other maintenance and repair work will made up for the timeframe until Monday, 8 April.
Mothibi said one of the major highlights relating to the scope of work of the forthcoming interruption is the isolation of the 600 mm diameter and the 900 mm diameter pipelines which are currently interconnected at Midstation’s chamber two. This isolation will help avoid a total water supply outage in the future.
Intervention commenced with emergency phase
The National Treasury’s Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) already commenced with the emergency phase into the refurbishment and maintenance interventions on the bulk water supply.
Also, critical work has unfolded at the old and new Riverton Water Treatment Plants through the recommissioning of two dysfunctional clarifiers, and the replacement of filter media to improve water production.
“The recommissioning of the two clarifiers will enhance production by 16 megalitres”, Mothibi said.
Misinformation peddlers
The municipality appeals to Kimberley residents to be wary of misinformation being peddled through voice notes, and to rely on information from official municipal sources.
Mothibi said detailed information will later be released regarding water supply contingency measures for all affected areas, healthcare facilities, old age care centres and other key points. Residents will be updated on a regular basis.
“We encourage residents to store enough water ahead of the water supply interruption,” Mothibi said.
