Unless they get hands-on help to clear a crucial part of the filtering mechanism, technicians at Grahamstown’s main water purification plant fear they may not be able to guarantee a quality water supply to the city past the new year.
Unless they get hands-on help to clear a crucial part of the filtering mechanism, technicians at Grahamstown’s main water purification plant fear they may not be able to guarantee a quality water supply to the city past the new year.
However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents in high-lying areas who have had intermittent, or no water for the past four weeks.
Grocott’s Mail watched staff from Amatola Water battle on Tuesday morning 24 December in 30-degree heat to set up a system to clear sludge from several clarifier ponds at the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works. The clarifiers, a system of sieves, are the first in a long chain of infrastructure issues that Amatola Water must resolve in order to solve Grahamstown’s water problems.
To clear them requires physical labour. But with many municipal staff on leave during the festive season, by midday on Tuesday there was still no help in sight.
Grocott’s Mail visited both the city’s pump stations – at Glen Melville Dam and Howieson’s Poort – as well as the James Kleynhans water treatment works, following a special council meeting on Monday.
At the meeting, councillors and a full public gallery heard a detailed report from Amatola Area Operations Manager Chris Nair on the technical reasons behind the city’s water crisis.
Nair explained that while there were medium- and long-term strategies to fix Grahamstown’s water, the team’s immediate concern was to get water to residents now.
Among the short-term fixes he described was a plan to install Jojo water tanks above houses in Somerset Heights which have been without water for four weeks.
“These tanks will have a capacity of 10 000 litres,” Nair explained. “Our plan is to backfeed from them through the fire hydrants, to create more pressure for household water systems.”
The tanks had been ordered, Nair said, and were expected in the next few days.
Many of the 80-odd members of the public who attended yesterday’s meeting were people directly affected by the water cuts, several from the high-lying areas of Somerset Heights and Cradock Heights.
Manager of Joza children’s home iKhaya Lusiso, Angela Hibberd, described the nightmare of caring for 14 children with intermittent, or no water.
“It’s been a month and a half that we’ve been without water,” Hibberd said. “And we’ve had two geysers burn out because of the water cuts.”
The home is run by Grahamstown Child Welfare.
Some residents walked out of the Council meeting when they realised they would not be allowed to voice their concerns.
In the next few days, Grocott’s Online will publish a detailed report on our visit to Makana’s pump stations and water treatment works. Included will be video clips showing exactly where the various technical faults are.
Also coming up on Grocott’s Online:
Sludgy finances block a resolution to the city’s water woes
