Repairing 16 major leaks will be a focus area during the five-day planned water supply interruption awaiting residents of Kimberley.
The interruption commences on Thursday, 29 May, at 18:00 and is scheduled until Tuesday, 3 June, at 18:00.
These repairs are part of the grant of R2,5 billion by the National Treasury allocated to the Sol Plaatje Municipality for the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI). Previously it was said that this comprehensive BFI programme consists of 35 projects to be implemented in three phases over approximately eight years.
At a briefing on Wednesday, 21 May, executive mayor Martha Bartlett addressed the media on the upcoming interruption.
She said the previous water shutdown addressed, amongst others, 14 of the identified 27 major leaks. The remaining leaks, coupled with new leakages identified, need to be attended to. These affect the water supply to the city.
Some of the identified major leaks are on the 600 diameter line towards Newton, the military base, downstream of Midstream and Newton reservoirs, and near Douglas Road.
Installation of pipework and fittings in chambers on the bulk pipelines will also be done.
Isolation valves need to be replaced, and the new 10MWA electrical transformer at the Riverton Water Treatment Plant (WTP) be connected and tested. The existing reservoirs at the old WTP at Riverton will be cleaned of sludge. Three raw water abstraction pumps will be removed and serviced. A variety of electrical work will also be done.
To execute these tasks, the pipeline needs to be emptied, which will take approximately a day, with the repairs and work planned for three days. After that, it takes time to fill the pipeline.
For nearly the past two weeks the municipality has urged residents and businesses to begin storing water. The municipality also embarked on an effort to inform residents about the planned interruption by dropping pamphlets at businesses, police stations, and key government service delivery points. Information boards have also been mounted on lampposts.
Unplanned interruptions
In the meantime, the short unplanned water interruptions in the city are making it difficult to properly prepare for the five-day planned interruption.
On Monday, 26 May, the municipality informed residents that due to an electrical cable fault at the high-lift pumpstation at the Riverton Treatment Plant, pumps at the Newton reservoirs in the city were switched off. This was done to avoid “draining the reservoirs to unrecoverable levels that might necessitate water shedding or an ongoing interruption of supply.”
Although pumping and water supply were expected to be restored during Monday late evening, high-lying areas were still without water late on Tuesday morning.
The previous Friday, parts of the CBD, Kimberley North and De Beers were without water due to a leakage on a 315mm pipe in Phakamile Mabija Road. At the same time, the Beaconsfield area was without water while the municipality attended to a burst pipe in Pulinger Street.
- For the duration of the water-interruption, ten roving water tankers wil supply water to each ward. Barlett said ten more trucks will be secured, with 23 flats beds utilised. Water tanks will also be placed in different wards.
- For enquiries on roaming water tankers, or the location of water-tanks, contact the call centre on 053 830 6111 or the toll-free number 080 122 9010, or send an SMS to 44204.
You must be logged in to post a comment.