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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 up until now.
Years of poor maintenance combined with technical and mechanical challenges at the old and new water treatment plants at Riverton next to the Vaal River from where Kimberley gets its water, are main reasons 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 coming months are inevitable, said Rikus Rossouw, engineer at Bigen Africa.
“It will hurt; it will hurt more than now,” he remarks, referring to the inevitable water shutdowns.
Currently, Kimberley residents and businesses are subjected to nightly water shutdowns, as well as sporadic water shutdowns during the afternoon. In recent months unannounced water shutdowns took place, leaving residents with dry taps for days on end.
Filters, pumps dysfunctional
During a special media visit to the old and new plant on Wednesday, 6 March, Rossouw says 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.
The first part of the old plant, with six filters, came into operation in December 1949, and the second part with another six filters, in October 1962. Rossouw described this plant as “a magnificent infrastructure and building”.
Last week, during the media visit, only six of these 12 filters were working, and of the six pumps, only three were operational.
Parts that were moved from one piece of equipment to another, instead of replacing a defective part, contributed to the situation.
A high-lift pump station next to the old plant, which pumps water into the bulk supply system, was built around 2018 and is state of the art. However, the power supply to this pump station was never sufficient, and upgrading to bulk power supply will be done. At the time of the media visit, the pump station was operating on half capacity.
At the new plant, raw water from the river is mixed with chemicals in the three rapid mixing chambers for the pre-chlorination process to take place.
It is said that the pre-chlorination process has not been working for approximately 12 years; Bigen Africa commenced with work at the new plant in October, and in January the pre-chlorination process was up and running.
Part of the new plant are 24 high-performance filters: with only six operational during the media visit.
In November algae in the water was a huge problem; filters needed to be washed and cleaned more than usual, which used plenty of already treated water.
Replacing the filter media in the filters is the first step in cleaning it and assisting in optimising its functionality.
The working of these filters at the old and new plant can be described as similar to that of a swimming pool, in which sand has to be replaced from time to time. The filters at the plants, however, are the size of a medium to large swimming pool.
Planned shut downs, when possible
Wherever possible, maintenance is executed without a water-shutdown. Also, as far as possible, water-shutdowns will be planned and communicated, said Thapelo Matlala, municipal manager of the Sol Plaatje Municipality.
However, situations such as 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 2023. 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.
Thirty-five projects planned
In a statement dated 6 March, 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.
Matlala indicated that site handover of all three these contracts has been completed and construction begun, with three major leaks having already been attended to by the appointed contractor for emergency leak repairs.
A further two projects will be awarded by 15 March, with three others at a tender stage.
Water production already improved
Matlala provided an update on the recent work being carried out at the Riverton Water Treatment Plant to improve water production:
Work to put two dysfunctional clarifiers at the old treatment plant back into production has commenced. The cleaning of one of the clarifiers has been completed. Valves were repaired and tested, and it was estimated that the commissioning of this clarifier will be completed on Friday, 8 March.
The second clarifier is undergoing cleaning and the valves have been repaired. Once functional, these two clarifiers will improve water production by 15 megalitres per day.
The filter media on two filter bays at the new plant has been replaced to improve the filtration process and overall water production capacity.
Matlala said support is still being provided by the Bigen Africa team, as well as the Kimberley-based Ekapa Mining, who have as previously reported, committed funding of R10 million towards efforts to address the water challenges.
“There is no quick fix, but we are not stopping. Everyday small things to improve production and quality of water, are fixed. We are seeing progress,” remarks Jihaad Suliman of Bigen Africa.
