Newly built reservoir to benefit Alberton areas

Ekurhuleni’s executive mayor councillor Mzwandile Masina and the City of Ekurhuleni’s dignitaries conducted a site visit to Alberton South Crest Reservoir on September 8.

The newly built reservoir was reportedly implemented as part of the CoE’s security of water supply initiative under the Aqua Leap Programme. This is primarily aimed at ensuring water safety and sustenance of the City’s economy.

The South Crest-based reservoir will be supplied from the Meyersdal and Elandsfontein Rand Water reservoirs. The reservoir, which is said to be completed at the end of September 2020, will further benefit Verwoerd Park and Florentia.

MMC for Water Sanitation and Energy Tiisetso Nketle told the RECORD that the reservoir will be greatly beneficial.
“We need not to have disturbance of water because water is life. This reservoir will help restore water supply. This means that if Rand Water faces a challenge from their side, then we will discharge from ours. In a nutshell, this is an extension of water supply that we have,” said Nketle.

She added that the reason the reservoir did not have its own pumping station was that it was situated in a higher density area.

“This will mean a lot to Alberton areas, especially surrounding areas of Ward 37. The reason the City built this reservoir was because of the scarcity of water. We are building 29 reservoirs and we still have eight more to come because we want to store water for the whole of Ekurhuleni,” she said.

High demand

The Alberton South Crest water supply zone is reported to currently have a demand of 6 600 kilo litres per day. Current storage provided by the two existing reservoirs is 4 400 kilo litres, which is said to provide 16 hours storage.

As a result, a decision was taken to construct another 10 mega litres to bring the storage cover to fit over 36 hours.