It's costing the Makana Municipality R350 000 to fix a pump crucial to the city's water supply and an official has promised that after this weekend, residents in high-lying areas could look forward to a resumed regular supply.
It's costing the Makana Municipality R350 000 to fix a pump crucial to the city's water supply and an official has promised that after this weekend, residents in high-lying areas could look forward to a resumed regular supply.
A press statement from the municipality this week explained that the Waainek facility had stood idle for five months, as drought forced it to channel the entire meagre water supply to the James Kleynhans treatment works – the water source for the entire city for most of last year.
But after significant rainfall at the end of last year, the water level at Howieson's Poort Dam rose to about 70% in November, and then to an overflowing 99.92% in December, so the municipality started pumping water from Waainek to ease demand on the James Kleynhans treatment works.
But because of having been idle for so long, one of the pumps at Waainek broke down and had to be taken for repairs, to the manufacturers, Sulzer Pumps, in Cape Town, on 1 December. The municipality then used a stand-by pump, which the company had serviced in November.
The water supply to high-lying areas was thus resumed – until that pump, too, broke down. It is this standby pump, repaired at a cost of R350 000, that is expected to be back in operation in the next few days at Waainek.
The original pump is still with the repair company, who have yet to quote on repairing it. In a bid to find a longer-term solution, the municipality is set to sign a Service Agreement Maintenance contract with Sulzer Pumps. "This means the pumps will be checked on a regular basis, instead of waiting for a breakdown to happen," said Makana Municipality Spokesperson Thandy Matebese. "We will get this right."
Meantime, he said, 15 water tanks had been placed in community halls and private properties in the affected areas. "We have done this in such a way that they are accessible to communities without that person going into the yard," Matebese said.
Meanwhile the Development Bank of Southern Africa has approved a R50 million loan to upgrade the bulk water line from James Kleynhans treatment works to Botha's Hill Reservoir. This, the municipality says, would increase its ability to meet the growing demand for water.
