Deluge of clean water lost as reservoir overflows
● Supply intended for Bay seeps into Grassridge veld instead
Tens of millions of litres of clean water en route to Nelson Mandela Bay are being lost every month from the Nooitgedacht supply system.
The water overflows from the small Grassridge Reservoir into a 1.2m spill pipe, runs for 200m underground and then plumes out into the veld, forming a torrent 150m wide and several metres deep.
Such is the volume of water it ploughs downhill through the bush towards the N2 and Coega for about 6km before eventually seeping into the soil.
In a desperate text to Sundays River councillor Leatitia Erasmus on Friday afternoon, farmer’s wife Elma Erasmus said the deluge was so deep as it crossed one of their dirt access roads that cars could not pass through it.
“Concerted efforts need to be taken to stop this wastage of kilolitres of water.”
Yesterday afternoon the flood was gone except for a puddle or two, enabling Elma’s husband, game farmer Jakkie Erasmus, to guide a small inspection team of DA councillors to the source of the problem, the eight-year-old Grassridge Reservoir perched on high ground next to a new larger one that is under construction.
The reservoirs are situated on land that belongs to cement company PPC, but the land is no longer actively worked.
The flow from Nooitgedacht near Addo is sourced from the Gariep Dam on the Orange River.
Once treated, about 150 megalitres of drinkable water are pumped through each day to the small Grassridge Reservoir — and then to Nelson Mandela
Bay. Jakkie said the weekend overflow floods had been a recurring issue for a long time and he had tried to alert the authorities many times.
“It’s been happening for about three years but has been especially bad over the last year. “I have complained to the metro every time but this is the first time anybody has come to look.”
The scenario was always the same, he said.
“A number of times each month, on a Thursday afternoon, the reservoir overflows and it keeps on overflowing until it eventually stops on Saturday morning.
“There used to be a mechanism that automatically switches off the pumps and therefore the inflow.
“But something’s not working now because it just keeps on pouring in.”
Jakkie said though Grassridge farmers did not use the Nooitgedacht water, the wastage of water especially in a time of drought was unacceptable to him.
DA provincial boss Nqaba
Bhanga said the situation was clearly serious and had to be immediately addressed.
“We’re facing a major water shortage in the metro and things like this compromise efforts to meet the challenge.
“This is an example of the poor water management from the metro that we have been pointing to.
“If we’re going to prevent a water supply crisis then we need the eyes and ears of the people, and the alert from this farmer is a good example of this, so thank you to him.
“Now we must get this problem fixed.”
Nqaba said metro councillor Masixole Zinto who was also part of the inspection team would be following through on the situation with the metro infrastructure and engineering department.
DA member of the provincial legislature Retief Odendaal said he would at the same time be tackling the matter with the Eastern Cape co-operative governance department and the national water affairs department.
Nelson Mandela Bay political head of infrastructure and engineering Andile Lungisa said last night he was unaware of the problem, but would follow up.
“I will investigate the matter tomorrow [Tuesday],” he said.