Water augmentation project to be completed by October

31st July 2015

  

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The construction of Limpopo’s R13.4-billion two-phase Mokolo and Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP) will be completed in October, as flooding problems and labour disputes that initially delayed the bulk water project have now been resolved.

Water Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane says completion of the project will enable State-owned power utility Eskom, which generates 95% of the electricity used in South Africa and 45% of the electricity used in Africa, to source adequate levels of water supply for its Medupi power station.

Mokonyane adds that, once the two main bulk raw water transfer systems are complete, more mines and households surrounding the project will have access to increased water supplies, alleviating the water shortages that have been plaguing the Mokolo catchment area.

The project’s main components, which are being implemented by State-owned water projects implementation agency the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), include abstraction weirs, pumpstations, pipelines and balancing storage.

TCTA has contracted Mokolo Crocodile Consultants, a joint venture comprising consulting companies Aurecon, Hatch Goba, PD Naidoo & Associates, Vela VKE and WorleyParsons, to consult on the project.

Phase 1 of the project comprises a 4.5 MW pumpstation and 81 km of up to 1 000-mm- diameter pipeline, delivering 40-million cubic metres of water a year at a rate of 1.6 m3/s from the Mokolo dam.

The infrastructure for the first phase will be connected to the existing infrastructure used to supply water to mining company Exxaro’s Grootegeluk coal mine, Eskom’s Matimba power station and the Lephalale local municipality.

Additional components of the project under Phase 2 include an abstraction weir in the Crocodile river, degritting channels with high- and low-lift pumpstations and 128 km of pipeline with brake-pressure and balancing reservoirs.

The abstraction weir has a capacity of 25.5 m3/s, while the estimated pump capacities for the low-lift and high-lift pumps will be 3.6 MW and 15 MW respectively, based on an initial demand of 5.4 m3/s.

The MCWAP is one of the Department of Water Affairs’ 188 bulk-water and waste- water projects that are completed, being implemented or at the feasibility stage.

“My department is participating fully at an intergovernmental level to restore effective water services to the affected areas. Further, there is a high-level and technical task team responding to the water crisis intervention project,” says Mokonyane.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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