The water levels at Maselspoort have started to rise following an operation by professional divers which started on Tuesday, 28 January. The purpose of the operation was to identify what was obstructing two sluice gates at Mockes Dam, which were disrupting the flow of water to Maselspoort Weir. The divers have since removed a lot of debris including a lot of mud and large stones.
The dam level at Mockes Dam has been at an all time low due to draught and the heat waves that the city is experiencing.
The MMM Engineering services Department started pumping water to Maselspoort at 14:00 today, and all affected areas now have access to water:
• Bayswater: Restored
• Heuwelsig: Restored
• Pentagon Park: Restored
• Spitskop: Restored
In addition to the refurbishment upgrades on the city’s water infrastructure, the Executive Mayor, Cllr Thabo Manyoni, has said that a more permanent solution is needed in order to deal with the water situation and prevent similar situations from happening again.
“We are engaging the Ministry of Water Affairs to say as Mangaung we request that we should have a dedicated pump that will pump water from Gariep Dam or Katse Dam directly here. This would be a long-term and permanent solution. We are aware that this is a costly exercise but it needs bold leaders to address it, especially if we are really taking the issue of water provision seriously,” he said.
Cllr Manyoni continued: “I have also put together an investigation team made up of forensic and technical investigators to get to investigate the matter of illegal abstraction of water which has been going on for a long time.”
The Executive Mayor revealed that the city would go on a campaign to sensitise the community about water preservation, and how to use the scarce resource responsibly.
“We have not been dealing with this matter firmly in the past. Every time we say use water wisely, but it means nothing to people until we are faced with such situations,” he said.
In the interim, the metro is in the process of upgrading the old pump systems at Maselspoort. The contract was awarded to Veolia Water for R65 million (excluding VAT) following the tender process.
The contract commenced on the 19th of August in 2013. The large pumps are in the process of manufacturing and project completion is scheduled for December 2014. Some of these large pumps are being imported. These new pumps with a much higher efficiency will increase the delivery of the raw water abstraction and delivery of potable water to Bloemfontein from Maselspoort.
Issued by: MMM Communications
