8 minute read
Water
A cross-provincial irrigation scheme is a national priority.
Lush fields made possible by the huge Vaalharts-Taung Irrigation Scheme. Credit: Aurecon
The revitalisation of the Vaalharts-Taung Water Irrigation Scheme will double the land available to emerging farmers, create more than 10 000 jobs during its implementation, resolve water shortages in local municipalities and provide certainty for producers of fresh produce.
The project was gazetted as one of the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) in July 2020 and falls under the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC). The existing Vaalharts Irrigation Scheme is one of the largest irrigation schemes in the world, covering 39 000ha under irrigation, and extending it to Taung in the North West will give it even greater reach. The scheme currently has 1 000km of concrete-lined canals and more than 300km of concrete drainage.
The Vaalharts Water User Association is headquartered in Jan Kempdorp, a town in the Northern Cape right on the border of the North West and at the centre of the scheme’s area of operations.
Infrastructure development company Bigen Group is engaged in the irrigation scheme upgrade and is also involved in treating and recycling water for mining companies in the province. At the Bafokeng Masimone mine local effluent resources are converted to a product which is suitable for a variety of mine-water applications.
Municipalities
Large infrastructure has been the focus of national and provincial initiatives in recent years. Municipalities are charged with delivering water and handling wastewater but many municipalities have not been equal to the task.
Magalies Water is the Water Services Authority (WSA) serving two of the local municipalities in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg. It also supplies water to five mines in the province and is active in the provinces of Gauteng and Limpopo.
When a crisis situation emerged in the neighbouring municipality of Madibeng (which includes the large manufacturing town of Brits), the National Minister of Water and Sanitation called on Magalies Water to tackle the problems. The Brits Water Treatment Plant was fixed and boreholes were dug to service rural areas.
A new body has been formed to help municipalities deliver services. The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) falls under the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and will assist municipalities to plan for, provide and maintain infrastructure. The first action of MISA was to commission 81 engineers and town planners.
Municipalities in the North West have been instructed
SECTOR INSIGHT A Provincial Water Master Plan is delivering projects.
to submit specific plans to feed in to the Provincial Water Master Plan in an effort to get an overview of the sewerage and sanitation problems facing communities. Several projects have recently been completed. These include Dinokana Water Augmentation project, the Ganalaagte Boreholes and Sewer Pump Station Refurbishment project, the Naledi Water Augmentation Phase 1 and 2 projects and the Tshing Cent Fall Sewer Line project. Various wastewater treatment plants have been refurbished and the last phase of the Taung/Naledi Bulk Water Supply project was tackled in the second half of 2021. This will improve water supply to 55 villages in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality.
Progress has been made towards supplying water to the 79 schools in the province which were identified as having inadequate water facilities. This includes the drilling of boreholes and construction of storage tanks. All new schools built in the North West are supplied with kitchens in line with the National Schools Nutrition Programme.
The province has 83 sewage-treatment plants, and the national Blue Drop award system has found most of them need improvement. JB Marks Local Municipality, which has Potchefstroom as its main town, is one of only three municipalities in the country that acts as a water-service authority and as a service provider. It has won awards for its levels of service. The biggest service providers active in the North West are: • Rand Water. • Magalies Water. • Sedibeng Water (which has taken over the service area of
Botshelo Water). • Midvaal Water Company, which supplies water to Matlosana (Klerksdorp).
South Africa is a waterscarce country and water management is critical to economic planning. The western part of North West Province is particularly dry. In the eastern part of the province, national government has sent water tanks to some parts, and has upgraded the treatment plants upstream from the Hartbeespoort Dam.
Three of South Africa’s six major catchment areas are located in the province: the Limpopo, the Orange and the Vaal. Within these catchment areas, only the Vaal River has a strong-enough flow to allow for significant amounts of water to be taken from it directly to support irrigation or industry. There are four watermanagement areas in the province, three of which are linked to the Vaal River. Water is imported into the provincial system through transfers between water basins. ■
ONLINE RESOURCES
Blue Drop Awards: www.ewisa.co.za National Department of Water and Sanitation: www.dwa.gov.za South African Association of Water Utilities: www.saawu.org.za Vaalharts Water Users Association: www.vaalhartswua.com Water Research Commission: www.wrc.org.za Credit: Unsplash
Magalies Water responds to urgent water needs
Magalies Water Chief Executive, Sandile Mkhize
Magalies Water, which is one of South Africa’s nine water boards, has proved to be a worthy contributor in the water sector. The water utility, which services local municipalities in the North West, Limpopo and Gauteng, also supplies bulkwater to mining operations within its area of service as well as other industries. The Rustenburg-based state-owned entity has over the last few years made an intentional and targeted effort to address the bulkwater supply challenges plaguing Rustenburg, the hub of industry in the North West.
Even though the local economy of Rustenburg has faced many challenges, mainly due to the protracted mining sector industrial actions the demand for bulkwater in Rustenburg and the surrounding areas has been on a steady rise.
Mining, which is the economic backbone of the town, also relies on the availability of water for operations which run on a 24-hour cycle. Allied to this is the region’s expanding population growth which increases through rural-to-urban migration as people come to Rustenburg in search for economic opportunities.
Small-to-medium scale farming and industries have also been identified as some of the major activities that influence migration of people to Rustenburg. This movement of people has a direct bearing on the municipality’s ability to provide clean drinking water to all communities.
All of this contributes to making Rustenburg the economic hub of the province. The Rustenburg Local Municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) reflects an urgent need for intervention on water augmentation.
Rolling out Phase 2 Magalies Water Chief Executive, Sandile Psychology Mkhize, says that Phase 2 of the Pilanesberg South Bulkwater Supply project will bring relief to Rustenburg and the Royal Bafokeng Administration (RBA). Phase 1 of the Pilanesberg project was completed in 2016.
He continued, “The proposed bulkwater scheme is also in line with Magalies Water’s regional bulkwater master planning and the Royal Bafokeng Nation’s Water Services Development Plan. As part of its Bulk Infrastructure Capital Expenditure Programme, Magalies Water has identified numerous extensions to the existing
Bulkwater Supply Schemes from the Vaalkop Water Treatment Works. This Pilanesburg Bulkwater Supply System (PBWSS) project is anticipated to be completed in early 2023,” Mkhize remarked.
He also provided technical details on how the second phase will be rolled out. “Phase 2 of the PBWSS, which will cost about R900-million, will be approached in three stages that will be funded through multi-year funding by the Regional Infrastructure Grant of the Department of Water and Sanitation and the capital funding allocation of Magalies Water.”
Packages involve the following: Stage 1: Construction of Tlhabane Reservoir. This will involve earthworks where large excavation will be done, concrete structures, pipe-work comprising large-diameter steel/uPVC and stainless-steel pipes and large-bore valves in variable sizes.
Stage 2: Construction of Mafenya to Tlhabane bulkwater pipeline, mainly of steel/uPVC to withstand high pressures in the system.
Stage 3: Construction of the pumping station next to the existing Mafenya reservoir to pump water all the way to the Tlhabane reservoir with a combination of gravity feed.
Some 55km east of the Vaalkop Dam, which is home to the 270 megalitres-per-day (ML/d) Magalies Water Treatment Works, another project is at concept stage. This project, once completed, is intended to increase the bulk capacity of water to the communities of Bethanie and Modikwe through an upgrade of the Kortbegrip pipeline. Early financial expenditure projections are estimated to the tune of R88-million and will make use of the Modikwe reservoir in achieving the increased water supply to the region.
CONTANCT DETAILS
Address: 38 Heystek St, Rustenburg 0300 Tel: +27 14 597 4636 Email: info@magalieswater.co.za customerservices@magalieswater.co.za Customer Care Line: 0860 000 720 Whatsapp: 060 966 7994 Website: www.magalieswater.co.za Vaalkop water treatment works
The project will be co-funded with the participation of Magalies Water and Rustenburg Local Municipality as well as Rhoven Glencore Mine through its social labour plan (SLP) as part of the licence conditions where mining companies are to implement social impact projects within their host communities.
Currently four villages (Bethanie, Modikwe, Berseba and Makolokwe) are experiencing water challenges with their source of water coming from boreholes and bulkwater supplied from the Vaalkop Water Treatment Works through the Kortbegrip pipeline to Modikwe reservoir.
While the project is still at its infancy stages, small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) from the locality stand to benefit by way of skills transfer through subcontracting opportunities. This will help to achieve local economic development objectives.
While the economy of Rustenburg and the surrounding areas seems to be reviving, Magalies Water remains steadfast in fulfilling its important constitutional mandate, which seeks to ensure that within its area of operation, through existing relationships with local municipalities, communities have access to clean drinking water compliant to the SANS 241:2015 drinking water standard. Local Municipality for the leasing of a water-tank truck. ■
