THE Minister of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Pemmy Majodina, handed a certificate of completion for the water treatment works in Klipplaat to Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality executive mayor, Cllr Willem Safers, thus officially declaring the plant ready to provide water to the residents of Klipplaat.
Majodina urged Safers to ensure that the newly built infrastructure is well managed and maintained to ensure reliability and assurance of water supply for the small community in the Karoo.
Klipplaat is northwest of Gqeberha and the plant forms part of the R67 million Ikwezi Regional Bulk Water Supply Scheme funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG). This is a welcome relief for a municipality which struggled to provide quality drinking water to the communities in the area. The project will improve water supply to the 2,215 population of Klipplaat, and to Jansenville’s 5,612 residents.
The new Klipplaat water treatment works replaces the old plant, which produced 0.3 mega litres of water, with a plant that treats 1.2 Ml/d. The plant includes a 0,8 million litre storage reservoir and pump stations. A raw water pipeline from the Klipfontein Dam to the water treatment works, and to the water reservoir were also installed. In addition, one borehole was drilled and installed, and two existing ones were refurbished to augment water supply.
A new water treatment works producing 1.2 Ml/d was also constructed at Jansenville. Six boreholes were refurbished, and a reconfiguration of a new water pipeline was done from the boreholes to the reservoirs. The DWS says that prior to this, tap water was undrinkable due to a bad smell caused by hydrogen sulfide gas released from the boreholes’ aquifers. The problem of contaminated water was resolved using nanotechnology, according to DWS.
“The project has improved water supply to the area and has also improved the quality of drinking water to the residents. While we celebrate the improved water supply, the municipality must repair water leaks to prevent water losses. The community must also pay their municipal bills so that the municipality can reinvest revenue generated from water supply back into water provisioning and for operation and maintenance. Sustainable water supply will also result in improved economic development in the area because investors will be encouraged to invest in the area because of reliable water supply,” said Majodina.
The Minister addressed the Klipplaat community following the handing over of the project to the municipality and urged the community to look after the water infrastructure and protect it from vandalism. She also encouraged residents to save water and to report water leaks to municipal authorities.
The community was given an opportunity to engage with Majodina and to raise their concerns on water-related challenges. Among the concerns raised was the issue of leaking water meters and weak water pressure. The municipality made an undertaking to address these issues. They expressed appreciation and gratitude for the water project which has alleviated their water challenges.
