Company Announcement - Situated in the foothills of the Drakensberg, in the Eastern Cape, is the town of Maclear - famous for its wild trout, rock art (San Paintings), dinosaur footprints and spectacular scenery. Not quite so famous, but of vital importance to the Joe Gqabi District Municipality in which Maclear falls, is the improvement and upgrade of the town’s bulk sewer infrastructure.

“The upgrade to the town’s sewage infrastructure will see it complying to the Department of Water Affairs Green Drop standards for discharge quality effluent, preventing pollution into the nearby Mooi River, meeting existing and projected demand, and assisting with the elimination of bucket sanitation,” explained project leader Victor de Wet of consulting engineers GIBB, charged with the design and supervision of the phased upgrade.

GIBB was appointed for Phases 1 and 2 of the project which involved the collector sewer from Greenfields (Phase 1) and the first phase of the construction of the Maclear Wastewater Treatment Works. The third phase which is scheduled to commence in June 2015 includes the construction of the WWTW, the construction of the main sewerage pump station and the closing down and rehabilitation of the old sewerage ponds.

“We applied all the latest design and system technologies at Maclear, taking cognisance of the availability of equipment and expertise in the area and services available from suppliers. In addition, GIBB provided operational and maintenance guidance, and the setting up of the process together with the training of operators for the Maclear WWTW and surrounding plant operators in the area,” said de Wet.

In detail, Phase 3 comprises completing and extending the capacity of the existing WWTW from 700 kℓ/day to its full capacity of 1400 kℓ/day which involves construction of a second reactor and secondary settling tank, a chlorine contact tank and related mechanical and electrical work. The proposed new bulk sewerage pump station (Maclear Town PS) will receive the entire town’s wastewater together with the upgraded Fourie Street reticulation. “Environmental assessments were  carried out for future Phase 4 and 5 projects, and the Maclear Town PS and temporary pump station will be located within DWA restricted areas. This raised concerns of providing river protection against pollution during spillage incidents.

“Additional rising main segments connecting to a steel pipe bridge crossing are also in sensitive river bank protection areas,” said de Wet. “The future Phase 4 and 5 projects envisage full waterborne sewerage reticulation for the entire town of Maclear and its adjacent townships,” he concluded.