The maintaining of a sustainable water supply is regarded as an essential service by the Polokwane Municipality, and work on the R151,6 million project to link 67 boreholes to the city’s water purification works is still in progress.
Over the last three weeks, the municipality took advantage of the lower traffic volumes in Potgieter Avenue to construct a section of a Upvc pipeline that will serve as one of the main conductors of untreated borehole water.
The Spokesperson for the municipality, Thipa Selala said that the added capacity will augment the city’s water supply capacity that has been under strain for quite a time.
Four contractors were appointed to execute the complete project and commenced with construction on 4 July last year. The planned completion date is 29 March next year but this may be revised to compensate for the effect of Covid-19. The overall physical progress on the project is currently 22%.
According to Selala, the project is funded by the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant from the Department of Water and Sanitation and is one of the strategic projects that the municipality is implementing to augment the insufficient surface water supply in anticipation of the long- term interventions by Lepelle Northern Water.
A full-time occupational health and safety officer is on the site to ensure that the safety of workers and the public as well as passing traffic is maintained.
Story and photo: Barry Viljoen
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