‘Metro won’t run out of water’
Nooitgedagt new phase brings relief but drought troubles not over
NELSON Mandela Bay will not reach a point where it would be without water, thanks to the additional supply coming from the Nooitgedagt treatment plant. Infrastructure, engineering and electricity portfolio head Annette Lovemore gave the assurance to journalists, councillors and municipal officials at the official commissioning of Nooitgedagt Phase Two.
It has increased the city’s water supply by 70 megalitres a day.
Speaking in Addo yesterday, Lovemore said: “We, as Nelson Mandela Bay, have the knowledge that we will not reach day zero. We will not reach a day where we have no water.
“The Nooitgedagt scheme gives us that assurance [and] that is something to celebrate.
“This doesn’t put us out of trouble. We can’t walk away here saying ‘yay, we have Nooitgedagt’,” Lovemore said.
The extra water from Phase Two was officially added to the city’s resources on July 31.
This upped the supply from the Gariep Dam to 140Ml. This is about half of the metro’s daily water usage. The rest of the water comes from the Kromme, Kouga and Orange River systems.
The R120-million project was started in 2015, while Phase One started in 2011.
The two phases so far cost about R680-million, while construction on the third, final phase has already begun.
The sod-turning event to mark the start of Phase Three was postponed as Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvulo Mokonyane was unable to attend.
Mokonyane’s department is funding the construction of the R400-million third phase, which is expected to increase the supply capacity by an additional 70Ml a day.
Construction on the phase is expected to be completed by February 2019.
Lovemore said: “The drought has forced us to decrease our water consumption.
“Over half [of our water supply] is now coming from this scheme.
“Nooitgedagt is now the primary supply of water in the metro, now that we are no longer using Churchill.”
Nooitgedagt project manager Edzard Verseput said the new infrastructure from Phase Two would be in good condition for the next 40 years.
Senior water and sanitation director Barry Martin said the completion indicated that the department was not working in a vacuum.
“The need for Nooitgedagt is part of our water master-plan that council passed, and we as officials have to make the plans work,” Martin said.
“Historically, we haven’t had the money forthcoming for Phase Two.
“This forms part of the whole bigger picture in providing our metro with water that's sustainable. ”
Martin said the department was at some point concerned that areas in the western parts of the metro would have their supply cut.
“With us being able to treat this additional water and transfer it all the way to the metro, we needed two additional major pump stations that actually pump the water right through to the western side of the metro,” he said.
Mayor Athol Trollip commended municipal engineers on a job well done.
“This day is about government governing, about doing what it has to do.
“This project was not conceptualised, planned or implemented by this administration,” he said.
“This administration had the responsibility to bring this project to fruition and make sure that it happens on time.
“During a drought it matters critically that we deliver on time,” Trollip said.
The scheme gives us that assurance [and] that is something to celebrate