Polokwane water crisis: Mayor puts plans in place

POLOKWANE – Last week, the city’s ability to provide water deteriorated to such a level that Polokwane Mayor John Mpe had to call on the Deputy Ministers of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo and Dikeledi Magadzi to seek urgent and decisive intervention relating to ongoing challenges hampering water provision.

At the media briefing, Mpe announced interventions on the immediate, short, medium and long term to place the City of Stars on a safer track towards becoming a metropolitan local authority.

The immediate plan:

• The availability of resources towards repairs and maintenance of equipment will be prioritised, emergency leaks will be repaired upon presenting itself, a water rationing plan will be implemented and water tankers will be mobilised as part of the initial plan.

• Other measures include the transfer of pumps to pump station 2 at Lebowakgomo to fill in the Krugersburg reservoirs to ensure water supply to the residents of the city and repairs of pumps for pump station 3 at Lebowakgomo will receive immediate attention to ensure pumping to the Potgieter Street reservoirs.

• More pumps have been sourced from service providers on an emergency basis to ensure standby pumps are available to complement the pumps at pump stations 2 and 3. This will ensure the security of water supply to the city.

• The remaining seven kilometres of the Specon pipeline will be replaced to ensure minimum water loss where required as part of LNW’s ongoing operations and maintenance of the Olifantspoort pipeline supply to the city with minimum or no interruptions.

Mpe also announced that the municipality has scheduled shutdowns for the replacement and refurbishment of various infrastructure (Sand River North Manganese Treatment Plant and Dalmada Water Treatment Works) that will start on a suitable date after noticeable improvements from the Olifantspoort scheme to ensure that all the necessary interventions are conducted as part of the water supply solutions.

“In the latest update LNW confirmed that pump stations are currently operating after the repairs were done last night and there is flow of water to the city. To deter future failures, LNW will ensure that there are stand-by pumps to immediately kick in once a problem is detected.

“There is a flow to Polokwane and as levels improve, water supply will also increase,” Mpe assured.

Short, medium and long term strategy

Short-terms plans for the next 12 months entail an estimated R440m worth of infrastructure replacement, upgrades and construction.

These measures include pump stations to be replaced, refurbishment of the Olifantspoort and Ebenezer plants, construction of water treatment works and borehole infrastructure.

Through medium-term plans over a 30-month term it is intended to repair pipelines on the part of the Olifantspoort Scheme and infrastructure at Ebenezer Plant to the tune of R3.7b, while in the long-term, plans for improving water supply to Polokwane over a period of six years, through the implementation of the second phase of the Ebenezer/Olifantspoort schemes upgrade at a cost of R10b are underway.

Providing some insight into the situation, Mpe said that the situation was exacerbated by power dips or tripping from both the Ebenezer and the Olifantspoort schemes and a number of the line bursts at the remainder of the 7km aged Specon line that needs to be replaced.

“Recently the challenge was worsened by mechanical failures for the pump stations on parts of the Olifantspoort scheme, which left major parts of the city and other areas without water for days or weeks,” Mpe said and stated that LNW has not been honouring its contractual obligation.

“For the past six months, the pumps at LNW have been taken for repairs and were never returned. The bulk supplier only pumped 30% of the 100% required to pump to Polokwane and the Olifants Bulk Water Scheme has been operating below its licensed volume of 27Ml per day owing to pumps that were out of operation.

“LNW has failed to meet the continuity, regularity and the basic allocation of potable water to Polokwane and its residents,” Mpe said and added that it was recommended to the deputy ministers that LNW be compelled to immediately make available budgetary resources for emergency procurement to remedy the situation with mechanical failure at pumps PS 2 and PS 3.

They were requested to assist in making available the resources for the planned infrastructure refurbishment and upgrade projects, in terms of which a memorandum of agreement is to be signed before September 15.

Mpe acknowledged the contributions made by the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and the two deputy ministers.

He also apologised to residents and businesspeople, stating that he has regard for the inconvenience suffered based on the continuous interruptions in water supply.