Another hiccup on Tugela transfer time table

CONTRARY to previous assurances, the proposed doubling of pipeline capacity from the Tugela River to Goedertrouw dam has not been settled.

At a meeting held in Richards Bay on Tuesday, where the Department of Water & Sanitation (DWS) Tugela project leader was not present, the current status was explained by representatives of Aecom, who successfully tendered for the multi-million turnkey project,

As service provider for the Tugela Transfer Scheme (TTS), which will double the transfer rate from the present 1.1m3 per second to 2.4m3 per second, Aecom gave feedback to the Tugela Transfer Group (TTG), comprising stakeholders from industry, business and agriculture.

Aecom told the meeting the Scope of Work (SoW) was not well defined by DWS during the tender process, and a lot of preliminary work must be done
before a final SoW can be decided.

It will take three to four months to deal with issues and finalise designs, only after which Aecom – who have yet to sign the final contract – can give a more definite timeline.

As a result the original project programme of 18 months may extend to 22-24 months.

However, Aecom said they were still aiming for the 12 month construction period.

Concerns were expressed that the electricity demand stipulated in the Eskom application may have been understated.

The R14-million due to Eskom has yet to be paid.

DWS has previously committed to access additional funding for the project if necessary.

Desalination pipeline

Meanwhile, the Water Crisis Task Team meeting has raised concerns over the newly announced desalination plant at Alkantstrand, which was to have been commissioned on 1 February.

Construction of the pipeline from the plant to the Meerensee reservoir (about 1.2km) is still to happen.

The partially uphill route cuts through sensitive coastal dune vegetation and concern was raised that no EIA was conducted.

Abstraction of water from Lake Mzingazi, where repairs and refurbishment of equipment should be completed in May, came under discussion.

Consensus was that no abstraction should take place until the lake level is more than two metres above sea level (2msl), because of salt infiltration.

Latest level is reported to be 1.72msl.

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