NELSON MANDELA BAY & BUFFALO CITY
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is hard at work to bolster its water supplies and conserve its resources as the city battles the ongoing drought.
N
elson Mandela Bay is reportedly using 40 Mℓ more than the target of 250 Mℓ a day as the city’s combined dam capacity reaches a low of 17%. Restrictions on water extraction from supply dams are as high as 70% as the metro continues to face a disastrous drought.
Combatting losses In an effort to reduce water losses, the city introduced a R15 million water leaks project earlier this year, along with a commitment to pursue a tight turnaround time of 12 hours for the attendance of leaks. The project saw seven plumbing companies appointed to eradicate the huge backlog of 15 000 reported water leaks across the metro. The metro loses 28% of its total potable water to leaks every month. In addition, the metro’s newly appointed head of Infrastructure and Engineering, Mongameli Bobani, recently announced that flow meter restrictors would be installed to throttle water supply to customers with high consumption. Industrial, commercial and institutional users will also be requested to reduce their consumption by at least 20%.
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IMIESA August 2020
Water levels in Kouga Dam, the region’s main supply dam, have dropped below 7%
TACKLING THE DROUGHT The municipality has also undertaken an upgrade of the Motherwell-Chelsea 500 mm pipeline. The badly corroded pipeline was causing frequent water outages affecting the western part of the bay. According to Barry Martin, director: Water and Sanitation, NMBM, the pipeline is almost 60 years old and the municipality had identified a critical area of the pipeline that had reached the end of its lifespan. The replacement of a section of the pipeline forms part of the metro’s broader plans to find longterm solutions to water supply challenges. The upgraded pipeline will assist with transporting water from the Nooitgedacht scheme, which has been upgraded to bolster water supply.
New build Part of NMBM’s drought response involved infrastructure upgrades and new builds. This includes the upgrading of the Nooitgedagt Water Treatment Works (WTW), which is being upgraded from a 140 Mℓ/day to 210 Mℓ/day capacity. Phases 1 and 2 have been completed and included the upgrading of the incoming electrical supply, civil, mechanical and
electrical works for six new filters and a low-level pump station. Phase 3 includes civil, mechanical and electrical works for clarifiers, installing new filters, and the construction of a 45 Mℓ reservoir that will go into operation upon completion of the treatment plant. Interim Executive Mayor Cllr Thsonono Buyeye noted that the plant upgrade would bolster water supply from the Nooitgedagt scheme. “The key is to make sure that the amount of water we can extract from this scheme is maximised to the fullest,” he said. The city is also busy with the construction of the Coegakop wellfield and WTW, which will harness groundwater to bolster supplies. “This project is key for us as we will be able to extract as much water as we possibly can from underground sources, as we continue to address challenges in the city,” said Buyeye. The R260 million project will produce 26 Mℓ/day to augment NMBM’s current water supply sources and is expected to lift some burden off of the Nooitgedagt WTW. Once completed, the Coegakop wellfield and WTW will be the largest biofiltration plant in South Africa.
