As Makana Municipality works to restore our connection to Howieson’s Poort Dam by the end of Friday, the city’s water bosses have disputed a widely-distributed report by Democratic Alliance (DA) Ward 4 councillor Geoff Embling based on his investigation into Makhanda’s month-long water restrictions. Infrastructure director Asanda Gidana and water manager Gubevu Maduna explained the profoundly unpopular one-day-on/two-days-off restrictions, answering some of Embling’s questions and refuting most of his allegations. ROD AMNER reports.
On Wednesday, 12 October, Asanda Gidana told Grocott’s Mail that after the breakdown of the rising main pipe linking the Howieson’s Poort Dam to the Waainek Water Treatment Works (WWTW) a month ago, the two-days-off schedule had been the only way to ensure equitable water supply to all Makhandans.
Hope for a fix on the Howieson’s/Waainek line
On Thursday, Makana Communications said the team working on the rising main was almost done with the repairs and hoped to be finished by Friday. If no other leaks are found on the pipeline, the Municipality would prime the pipeline to 40 bars before resuming pumping six to seven megalitres (ML) of water daily to Waainek.
While the team was testing and pressuring the line on Wednesday, another leak sprung up.
Maduna said it was the Municipality’s intention “to have to have that job completed by Friday”.
The drought is not over
But, Maduna reminded residents that the city was still under a crippling drought. “Even if we go back to pumping from Howieson’s Poort Dam, we must hope that we receive rain because the dam’s level is so low [below 45%]that it will not get us to the end of December.
Settlers Dam is at 30%. “We can pump. But the level is still deficient.”
Gidana pointed out that some residents were illegally filling their tanks with municipal water during ‘on days’, depleting the supply and upsetting equitable supply to high-lying areas.
She went on to refute many of the findings of an ‘oversight visit’ recently conducted to both the Howieson’s Port rising line (on the western side of town) and the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works (on the eastern side) by Ward 4 councillor Geoff Embling and engineer Peter Sturrock.
Embling reported two working pumps in the James Kleynhans plant producing 136 litres per second, just below the standard capacity for two pump sets.
“Peter Sturrock calculated that 0.136 (converting to cubic meters) x 3600 (converting to hours) x 24 (hours per day) = 11.7 megalitres per day. Makana requires 18 megalitres per day, so 11.75 megalitres are enough to provide the whole town with ample water for one-day-on, one-day-off even with no water coming from the western side.
“Why, then, with load shedding below Stage 4, is Grahamstown having one-day-on, several-days-off at present, with up to two weeks off in certain areas?” Embling asked
In response, Gidana said Sturrock’s calculations were wrong and that he failed to consider several factors.
‘Normal’ water losses
“The design capacity of James Kleynhas is 10ML, but the pump can pump more – around 11-12 ML. However, as one pumps the water, there are inevitable losses on the way – about 2 ML,” she said. That means 20 ML can be pumped in two days, not 24 ML.
In response, Sturrock said this 20% loss “seemed exceptionally wasteful”.
Regardless, over the two days off, Gidana said 20 ML a day are pumped into a reservoir system with a holding capacity of 29 ML.
“Hence you will have some reservoirs sitting at 40%, some 30%, and some 100%. When levels are below 40%, it is risky for people in high-lying areas. People for whom the water is gravity-fed benefit – but we must pump to people in high-lying areas,” she said.
An equitable supply of available water
“Much of the available water is consumed by those with a topographical advantage,” Gidana added.
“So that is the reason we don’t open every second day. When you open on a second day (one-day-on, one-day-off), the same people who benefited yesterday will benefit today. And the ones in the high-lying areas will forever complain. So, we close it for two days to build up the levels of the reservoirs and get equitable distribution.”
Water in the pipes
Maduna added that the pipelines empty when the water supply is closed off. “That volume needs to be filled before other people can get water. So, in addition to the 29 mega litres of storage capacity to fill up, you also have about 3000 km of pipeline that you need to fill up.
“The water doesn’t go straight from the reservoir to my tap. It must fill up the pipes first before I can get it on my tap. That is why you will find that when you open the water in the morning before the pipeline is full, your pressure will be low and then gradually build as the pressure in the pipeline starts to fill up.” Maduna said.
Increased student population
Another difference between last year and this year is that there are far more students in Makhanda now. Many students were working from home outside Makhanda last year due to the Covid-19 lockdown, Maduna said.
Illegal filling of water tanks
Gidana said many residents were illegally filling their water tanks during ‘on days’.
“18ML is a theoretical demand. But the reality in Makhanda is that several people have water tanks. Those people are scattered all over, even in the low-lying areas. So as they enjoy the benefits before the water dries up – apart from what they are consuming, they also fill up their tanks.
When it rains, water tanks contribute positively to the local water supply.
But, when it doesn’t rain, demand during an ‘on day’ is much higher than 18ML. “If we were responsible, 18ML would be more than we need. But everyone is looking out for themselves and not thinking about the person next door,” Gidana said.
“This is even though the Municipality has issued strict water restrictions. It’s business as usual.”
Gidana emphasised that filling tanks on an ‘on day’ is illegal. She said that water restrictions are very clear, and the councillors needed to enforce this. 50:02
The ongoing drought
Maduna reminded residents that Makana was still amidst a crippling drought. “If it weren’t for the floods in December 2021, we would have had no water from Howieson’s Poort and Settlers Dams.”
Rainfall has been steady but insufficient to recharge the dams, Gidana said.
“People are operating recklessly and not sensing the impact of drought in their normal lives. They believe they can live ‘normal lives’,” he said.
Sky-high water demand
“For a very long time this year, we were running both plants,” Maduna said. “We were pushing 6-7 ML daily from Howieson’s and 10-11 ML from the Glen Melville Dam. And yet we still could not meet the demand. That’s why we still had to switch off at night. Because of that abnormal consumption.”
“You will see that there is a big problem. Even if we were to get 16-18 ML a day from both sides (Kleyhans and Waainek), we would still not be out of the woods. The consumption we are going through now is way more than last year’s.”
Leaks and metering
Gidana said the Municipality planned to introduce smart domestic metering to move away from estimations. “We need to know who the high consumers are. That will allow us to enforce because currently, we can’t do that.”
“We need to read the whole system to find the unaccounted-for water. We can’t reconcile what we have produced and consumed.”
“Over the last two years, we’ve been installing bulk and zonal meters. And that is also to assist us with picking up which areas we are supplying more than we are supposed to.”
“For example, if a zone has ten people, theoretically, they should only use a specific amount of water. But if it’s more than double or triple, then we can check what is happening there. In the absence of domestic zonal and bulk meters, it is difficult for you to pick up where the losses are coming from.
Ageing infrastructure
Maduna emphasised that Makhanda is one of the first towns in South Africa to receive reticulated water. “Unfortunately, that means our infrastructure is old. The reality of the stops and starts is that pressure fluctuations make it prone to more leaks.” Maduna said.
“Do we try to protect the old infrastructure by saying let’s not open and close (and not give everyone water)? Or do we open and close to give everyone water and deal with those leaks as they come? The latter is what we have done.”
“Opening and closing puts more strain on the pipes and gives us more leaks. It means that we need more teams to deal with that.”
Is Makana trying to save pumping (and electricity) costs?
In his report, Embling said Makana’s single most significant electricity usage is pumping water from JKWTW and Howieson’s Poort Dam uphill to Makhanda. “Keeping in mind that the Municipal Manager has received a lot of heat for the Eskom debt, and it is his last month on the job, is Makana trying to save electricity costs by pumping less water?”
Gidana and Maduna dismissed this allegation, saying that they lived in Makhanda and that their families were also affected by ‘water shedding’.
Lack of access to oversight visits by councillors
In his report, Embling said the Howieson’s Poort pump station was now under lock and key “after certain councillors did oversight visits there earlier this year”.
After the oversight visits, the Municipality subsequently ordered a backup pump. Embling asked if the one remaining pump on the western side at Howieson’s Poort had failed.
In response, Maduna said the pump was in excellent working order. Maduna also said the backup pump had been ordered and would be installed by January 2023.
How many times was the pipeline fixed?
In his report, Embling asked how often the pipeline had been fixed in the past month. According to the timeline presented below, the line was fixed at least four times. According to Maduna, separate leaks were fixed during this time.
A timeline of the month’s water woes
Both Makana Municipality Communication and Ward 4 councillor Geoff Embling compiled reports of the month’s water woes. In this timeline, we synthesised information from both reports and added conflicting interpretations and comments from Asanda Gidana and Gubevu Maduna on the one hand and Geoff Embling and Peter Sturrock on the other.
8 September: A leak was observed on the Howiesonspoort Rising Main, which is 350mm in diameter. The pump station was switched off immediately. However, the extent of the leak could not be assessed and repaired immediately due to excessive pressure. The damage could only be evaluated on 10 September 2022. As this pipe is made out of steel material, a specialised contractor was brought it, but the material was not immediately available. The last piece of material arrived on 14 September 2022. The contractor assisted with welding and sourcing of material, and the internal team continued with the repairs immediately upon receipt of all required materials.
13 September: A municipal notice stated that the rising main pipe from Howieson’s Poort Dam to Waainek needed repairs. The Municipality reported that these repairs could not be completed because a “specialist service provider” needed some specialised fittings. After the pipe was fixed, it promptly broke again due to “water hammering”, i.e., opening the valves too quickly after the job was done. “This occurrence has haunted Makana for years, so one would expect that workers would know how to do it by now,” Embling commented. Maduna said the leaks were an inevitable result of the ageing infrastructure.
14 September: According to Makana Municipality, repairs were completed on 14 September. “However, testing and pumping could not be done immediately due to load shedding. This could have been done on the morning of 15 September 2022; however, the pipe kicked out after about an hour of pumping due to pressure hammering. This compelled that the pumps be switched off again. As the water was already in the pipeline, technicians were compelled to allow a day for it to drain off. This implied that repairs could only resume on 16 September 2022.”
16 September: According to Makana, repairs were completed in the afternoon of 16 September 2022; however, the pump could not be started immediately, as the team needed to construct a thrust to anchor the vulnerable part of the pipeline for more stability, to sustain the high pressure.
“The thrust block was constructed on 17 September 2022. However, testing and pumping could not immediately resume before the concrete could dry up due to inclement weather.
17 September: The pipeline was repaired, and a “cement thrust block” was made to secure the vulnerable part of the pipeline. Residents were asked to be patient while the concrete dried.
19 September: According to Makana, pumping and testing could only be done on 19 September 2022. The line was filled around lunchtime, and raw water started transferring to Waainek WTW. “However, the process was continuously disrupted by Stage 6 load shedding. The latter has affected the water provision patterns, as the output of Waainek WTW could not be guaranteed. Operating the pump continuously has been very difficult, as we feared unintended damage. We could only pump on much more prolonged hours without electricity disruption.”
“Throughout this period, water had been supplied every second day, as we relied more on the James Kleynhans WTW to supply the entire Makhanda.”
26 September: According to Makana, on the evening of 26 September, it was realised that the pressure had not picked up during pumping from the Howieson’s Poort rising main. “Although there was a suspected leak, it could not be immediately detected and required the team to walk the line.
27 September: According to Makana, on 7 September, the team walked the line and realised there was, indeed, a leak along N2, again to “water hammering”.
“This meant that Waainek WTW would not contribute as expected. A specialist service provider was contacted, but unfortunately, some of the required fittings were unavailable until Tuesday, 4 October. The contractor attempted a temporary solution on 28 September 2022, but this was unsuccessful.
“This compelled us to rely mainly on JKWTW production. As there is a total of about 29ML storage capacity, it was realised that, although a minimum of 18 Ml/d was attained with one-day-on/one-day-ff water days, levels were not strong enough to ensure equitable distribution to both high- and low-lying areas. The water supply was then adjusted to two-days-off.
“The results of that were evident on 30 September 2022, as there was adequate water, even in previously constrained areas. However, water was quickly depleted, especially from the low-level reservoir, due to high consumption in the CBD areas.
1 October: According to Makana Communication, a faulty pump at James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works (JKWTW) needed repairs, and technicians from Johannesburg were called to fix the problem. According to Emblin, “JKWTW should have four pumps by now, but it only has two, after R237 million was spent on JKWTW upgrades. Thankfully, National COGTA has stepped in and will investigate the chronic delays and misspending.”
“Losing one pump at JKWTW meant that half the production from the eastern side was cut. With no production coming from the West, Grahamstown was literally running on ‘one cylinder’ for a short while. The Municipality was warned about this almost a year ago, but the warning fell on deaf ears,” Embling said.
6 October: According to Embling’s report, repairs on the rising main pipe were completed for the third time.
9 October: Makana Communications reported that repairs on the rising main were completed for the fourth time, but another leak was detected, and it was arranged for the specialist contractor to come on 10 October to attend to the issue.
According to Embling, “It is absurd for a thick metal mainline pipe, which has lasted for about 25 years, to break four times within the space of a month unless the specialist did a shocking job and it broke at the same place. Secondly, ‘water hammering’ and load shedding are not new occurrences and have been going on for many years.”
Makana water manager Gubevu Maduna disputes this. He said pictures of the 25-year-old metal pipe showed clear signs of rust and erosion. The constant on/off schedule, exacerbated by Level 4+ load shedding had placed increased pressure on a piece of old infrastructure.
10 October: Peter Sturrock, a retired engineer who knows the system well, and councillors Brian Jackson and Geoff Embling set out to find the rising main leak on the N2. “After searching from the lowest point at Waainek Pass, where the rising main meets the N2, the repaired pipe was found about 500m from the Stone Crescent Hotel. A boggy marsh and flattened long grass provided evidence of a strong water leak,” Embling said.
“A section of the pipe, about a meter long, had been replaced with new piping. The concrete thrust block was there, but the concrete was brownish and looked old as if it had secured a previous leak. The section that had been repaired looked well secured with no visible impairments. No “specialists” were seen working on 10 October, and the overseers spent considerable time tramping up and down the N2 assessing the rising main pipeline.
12 October: Makana Communication reported significant repairs on the Howison’s Poort rising main. It was anticipated to be completed on Friday. This would open the way for restoring 6-7 ML of water to be pumped daily to the Waainek Water Treatment Works, ‘normalising’ supply.
Background: where our water comes from
The city is supplied with water from the Makhanda East and the Makhanda West water systems. Makhanda East is supplied with water from the Glen Melville dam, which, in turn, receives water from the Orange-Fish water scheme.
The James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works (JKWTW) treats 10 ML/day, which is pumped to the town’s primary reservoir, Botha’s Hill, at the edge of town and supplies primarily the Eastern side of Makhanda (70% of the town’s population).
A project funded by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is currently underway to increase the water supply capacity at JKWTW to 20Ml/day to meet the present and growing demands of Makhanda.
Makhanda West is supplied with water from the Waainek Water Treatment Works, which obtains its water supply from the Howieson’s Poort and Settler’s dams. Waainek WTW’s optimum production is about 7 ML/day and predominantly supplies the western side of town.
An East to West linkage of a 30 cm diameter pipe exists between the two systems.
Makhanda town has an estimated demand of 18ML/d of water supply, so it has been severely water-stressed for a while.
Supplied by Makana Communications
