Water infrastructure upgrade to benefit Eastern Cape villagers

More than 500 households in four Eastern Cape villages are expected to benefit from a R95mwaterinfrastructure refurbishment project launched by the Alfred Nzo District Municipality. The two-year project will involve the refurbishment and construction of bulk water infrastructure designed to convey rawwaterfrom the Umzimvubu River to the Mhleleni Water Treatment Works. The villages of Rhwantsana, Mhleleni, Nkumba and Lugangatho, near Ntabankulu, have largely relied on boreholes for their water supply.

The municipality said the refurbishment project, officially launched on April 30, was intended to provide a more reliable and improved water supply to nearly 3,000 villagers. Alfred Nzo municipal spokesperson Luncedo Walaza said the project aimed to address longstanding problems linked to water treatment and ageing infrastructure. “The Mhleleni Water Treatment Works is one of the projects wherein initial design plans omitted prioritisation of water process, which did not inhibit the characterisation of water being treated, resulting in continuous silting,” Walaza said.

“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of other major components brought the project to a halt.” He said the refurbishment would introduce updated treatment processes and increase the scheme’s capacity to meet demand in the area. “The refurbishment will enable utilisation of modern water processing techniques with an increased capacity to meet the demand of regional water scheme capability,” Walaza said. The project will include the construction of a new package water treatment plant, refurbishment of the existing sand filtration system, reconstruction of the uplift pump station and the construction of a new abstraction point upstream from the existing one.

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The municipality said the filtration system would be repurposed to reduce sediment in raw water before pumping and treatment. “While [boreholes] provided a basic level of access, they are not always reliable and are susceptible to seasonal fluctuations,” Walaza said.

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