Bulk water supply infrastructure collapse in Mpumalanga town

Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, residents had a bleak January, culminating in the town’s bulk water supply infrastructure collapsing on Thursday.

The town has long been beset by water challenges.

This month has been no different, from a leak on a pump line on January 6 that left large parts of the town without water during repairs, to reservoir repairs, water meter thefts and burst pipes.

On Tuesday, the Emalahleni Local Municipality’s communication unit said in a statement that during a maintenance shutdown, it was discovered that the city’s point C reservoir ‘is not in good standing to supply quality water to the people’.

It said that on January 12, 60 megalitres (ML) of the 65ML reservoir were isolated and put out of operation, resulting in the far-lying areas not receiving water. Point C consists of a 60ML rectangular and a 5ML circular reservoir.

JoJo tanks were provided in dry areas and a short-term plan was implemented to alternate between feeding high and low areas while the ‘cleaning of the contaminated 60ML is expedited’.

The municipality said the full reservoir should be back in action on January 26, but explained that the 60ML component’s floor needs to be resealed and the roof replaced, which will take up to six months.

“However, the work that is carried out currently is to address the immediate reported challenges… medium-term plans to address the dilapidated reservoir infrastructure will be developed and implemented,” read the statement.

On Wednesday, the Witbank News reported that the Thungela reclamation plant, a critical component of the municipality’s bulk water supply infrastructure, would undergo maintenance work from January 17 to 18, and that water pressure drops could be expected.

On Thursday, the municipality released a statement confirming that a sudden major bulk water supply infrastructure collapse had been experienced, which resulted in the reduction of bulk water supply to the grid by approximately 50ML a day – over and above the 60ML already lost. This meant that the city had a 110ML a day deficit.

“It is no longer the point C reservoir that is affected… almost all reservoirs are now affected…” read the statement.

Witbank News reported that the municipal water storage reservoirs were operating below 30%, hence most areas are experiencing low water supply to no water supply.

The municipality said the ‘drastic drop in reservoir levels’ was as a result of:

• Decommissioning of point S (Ben Fleur) package plant due to water quality issues.
• Structural damages on the three sand filters at the main municipal water purification plant. Repairs are underway, with the work expected to be completed on Tuesday.
• Thungela Mine reclamation plant has been out of operation since Tuesday, which resulted in a reduced bulk water supply to the grid by 25ML a day.

The municipality said the repair and cleaning of the 60ML reservoir at point C was still on track but said that, unfortunately, the unavailability of water was delaying the work because the process of sludge removal, rinsing and disinfection of the reservoir requires water.

Point C areas were recovering after the implementation of water rationing but, unfortunately, all the gains have been hard hit by the now uncontrolled situation, the municipality said.

Water tankers were dispatched to some of the areas affected ‘but are limited and can’t cover all the areas simultaneously’.

The municipality said that the situation was being attended to by a technical team as a matter of urgency and that it was expected the water supply would ‘normalise by early next week because the system needs a longer period to recharge once water is pumped back into the system’.

On Friday, certain areas in and around eMalahleni were still without water, confirmed the municipality in another statement.

Yesterday, Witbank News reported that the city reported the maintenance work at point C was progressing well and that it expected to commission the 60ML reservoir by Friday. It confirmed that the supply of water remained intermittent.

The statement said that the repairs to the three filters at the main Witbank Water Treatment Plant were also being fast-tracked and already one filter was repaired and commissioned back to service yesterday morning.

“The NuWater treatment plant is also out of service currently due to the Manganese level being above the allowable standard,” it read.

Earlier today, the communication unit said that Thungela Mine ‘pumped throughout the night and point B [reservoir] level has risen. Pumping to point C has started but will take a while as the line was empty’.