MBOMBELA- The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is mandated to ensure security of water supply for all facets of the lives and livelihoods of South Africans. Part of this mandate includes regular maintenance of its infrastructure throughout the length and breadth of the land.
As a way of sound asset management principle and in line with the mandate referred to above, the department will implement a planned outage of its raw water bulk pipeline between Jericho pump station and Kriel power station from 20 October to 31 October 2014. This pipeline is older than 27 years and is therefore classified as “ageing infrastructure”. As such the need for its regular maintenance to sustain its life-span is consequently of utmost importance. The DWS will therefore be implementing this planned water outage to ensure that this key infrastructure is maintained to sustain the delivery of raw water to users.
During the course of this outage, the communities of Ermelo, Davel and Kriel as well as Eskom power stations, mines, farmers and various individual users will be affected as they get bulk raw water supply from this pipeline for their needs and operations.
Advanced leak detection technology was deployed to inform on the key areas in need of urgent repairs. In addition to this there is mechanical refurbishment required at the Jericho and Camden pump stations which can only be attended to if the pipe-line is taken out of operation. Similar outages were successfully implemented in the past and the department in conjunction with stakeholders such as ESKOM and the municipalities will ensure that disruption will be minimized as much as possible. The impact on all users was considered and contingency plans will be put in place. Alternative supply has being arranged by municipalities in affected areas.
The Department delayed the original outage which was initially planned to take place on 29 September because there was a need to reconfirm that all contingencies are in place and to optimize the outage work plan. The outage period has now been shortened from the original 17 days to 12 days and will start on 20 October 2014. These dates reflect the actual interruption of supply on the entire pipe-line and not necessarily the length of the interruptions in the various towns.
Dates of water supply interruption to various communities are as follows:
Ermelo Town (south): 23 October to 28 October 2014
Davel Town: 23 October to 28 October 2014
Kriel Town: 20 October to 31 October 2014
The reason for the variance in outage dates is due to the length of pipe-line that needs to be recharged/refilled after the outage and this unfortunately is limited to the confines of the pipe parameters.
The department and all stakeholders request patience and cooperation from all who are affected so that the planned outage period is not exceeded. Please consider everyone in the supply system; make storage preparations if possible and use available water sparingly and optimally.
The department apologises for the inconvenience caused. This planned outage is however important for maintenance and sustainability of the infrastructure and water supply
