Handing over of the Swllendam Waste Water Treatment Works by Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mrs Pamela Tshwete, at the Railton Community Sports Field, Swellendam Local Municipality, Western Cape Province
Programme Director,
Members of the Mayoral Council amongst us,
Councillors,
Religious and Community Leaders,
All Water and Sanitation officials and Stakeholders,
Members of the community,
Good morning, goeie more, molweni!
I am here today to celebrate with you in this very special event. The development of all infrastructures within the water and sanitation sector is critical for all socio-economic development. That underlines the very existence of this central department to all our livelihoods: the Department of Water and Sanitation.
This event is even more apt given the conditions regarding water availability in the province and in the country as a whole.
Besides South Africa being a water scarce country ordinarily, we are all aware of the drought that has gripped our country, with the Western Cape being one of the provinces that have been declared drought disaster areas. This was not an easy decision to take but the reality of the day dictated such for the national Executive, that is, Cabinet.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) bears responsibility for ensuring security of supply of water in the country, as well as the delivery of dignified sanitation to all.
In order to achieve this goal the DWS must work together with all municipalities, Metros, Districts and Local, to ensure the proper performance of all Water Treatment Works, and especially Waste Water Treatment Works. The Swellendam Waste Water Treatment Works is one such part of such essential water and sanitation infrastructure.
The upper reaches of the Klippe River is the main water source for this town of Swellendam. It is pleasing to know that the water source (raw water) for the town of Swellendam is adequate and can accommodate future growth. Out of the Swellendam Water Treatment Plant, surplus water is routed to three conservancy dams, namely Grootkloof 1, 2 and 3.
An additional conservancy dam (Grootkloof 4) need to be constructed in future to accommodate future growth. As the current water treatment plant has been upgraded as far back as 1991, further work on the water treatment plant is in the planning phase for its upgrade to accommodate future demand and for compliance to Blue Drop Certification.
This locality has the advantage of a number of water sources available to it.
It is an encouraging fact that five reservoirs are available in Swellendam to provide storage capacity for potable water. The water reticulation network is adequate, although the completion of various ring feeds in the network can improve water distribution management.
Portions of the water reticulation network for Swellendam has been installed as far back as 1921 and need urgent replacement. This in essence implies that water losses suffered through water pipe breakages due to the ageing infrastructure, will also in the near future result in considerable potable water losses, and will affect income streams.
The Huis River continues to be the main water source for both potable and irrigation water for the town of Barrydale. There’s a need to ensure the availability of potable water for future growth and during the dry season, thus the storage capacity for water must be urgently enlarged.
The availability of water for use by the town needs to be augmented, and the use of boreholes as sources of water will have to be investigated in the near future, to work together with a necessary water treatment facility that was constructed in 2005 for Barrydale. To allow for future growth of the town the capacity of the water treatment facility need to be upgraded again.
For Suurbraak the water source is located at the origin of a tributary of the Buffeljags River up in the Langeberg Mountain. The water treatment plant has recently been upgraded and is currently considered to be sufficient for a population of up to 7 6 00 people. No storage facility for raw water, before treatment, is currently available and the lack thereof is considered to be a weakness in the water provision system for Suurbraak. This must be corrected in future.
The area also has a number of rural areas it caters for.
Rietkuil is is supplied with potable water by the Overberg Water Board, an independent water board under the auspices of the National Department of Water and Sanitation
The village of Buffeljagsrivier is supplied with raw water by an open irrigation channel from the Buffeljags Dam. The capacity of the current water supply storage facility as well as the water treatment plant are not sufficient to accommodate the existing residents of the village in terms of supply demand or to ensure good quality potable water. The water treatment plant upgrading is in the planning phase to accommodate future demand and for compliance to Blue Drop Certification.
Human capacity comes to the fore as water supply for domestic and other uses in Infanta are provided by the residents themselves, either by means of rainwater collection or from boreholes. Water used is treated individually for domestic consumption. Long term solutions for the supply of potable water are presently being investigated. We are concerned though about the lack of available water sources for domestic consumption; this is restricting the further development of the village.
Some of the properties in the village of Malagas have access to potable water supplied by the Overberg Water Board, while others make use of water sources such as rainwater collection, ground water from boreholes or water pumped directly from the Breede River. The emergency housing project presently under construction at Malagas will place further strain on potable water provision, thus long term solutions for the supply of potable water are presently being investigated. The lack of available water supply for domestic consumption is restricting the further development of the village.
For Stormsvlei, water supply for domestic and other uses is also provided by residents themselves. This is by means of rainwater collection, from boreholes or water pumped directly from the Sonderend River. This water used is treated individually for domestic consumption.
The Overberg Water Board is the main supplier of potable water to the rural areas, with agricultural holdings’ rivers and groundwater sources providing water for irrigation and farming purposes.
In all of the issues raised, the most pleasing is the fact that water losses have been reduced to the minimum, with the average water losses for 2014/15 at 22.20%. These losses include the losses in the purification works.
In relation to the issue of the day, the upgrading of Swellendam Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), the project commenced in the 2013/14 financial year, and was completed in the 2015/16 financial year. The capacity is now estimated at 7ml/day to stimulate growth and development.
As things stand, Swellendam operates 5 Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW), 2 in Swellendam and 1 each in Buffeljagsrivier, Suurbraak and Barrydale. It is indeed pleasing that all residents have access to basic sanitation services, considering that “sanitation is dignity”, as we say at the department. However the provision of sanitation infrastructure for towns, villages and hamlets of the municipal area, is mainly determined by access to a sustainable water source, and as such only areas with sufficient available water can be serviced by waterborne sewerage systems.
Councillors, we are aware of the municipality’s plans to close the N2 Sewage Plant and to move it to another location due to its current location right at the entrance of the town, in a very narrow urban corridor created by restricting geographical and topographical characteristics. This is married to the planned upgrading of the Klipperivier Sewage Plant.
The upgrade will allow for the creation of capacity for the future growth of the town of Swellendam for the next 20 year scenario, considering the existing sewage works are already exceeding their capacity and the upgrading of sewage disposal capacity is a very high priority. The sewage reticulation system for the town of Swellendam is fairly old and also needs to be upgraded to provide for sufficient level of service for new developments resulting from the densification of the urban area.
The idea behind this upgrade was to raise its capacity to a 6 M/day plant and the diversion of sewer from the N2 waste water treatment works to Klipperivier. This capacity is estimated to be adequate for approximated growth expected for the next ten years. This Waste Water Treatment Works will allow the works to treat the wastewater projected flow until approximately 2035, i.e. for 25 years from the flows that were collected at the time of the study phase for the project.
The total cost of upgrading Swellendam WWTW project was R68 341 129 - 00 (sixty-eight million, three-hundred and forty-one thousand, one-hundred and twenty-nine Rands). The project was co-funded by the following institutions:
- Department of Water and Sanitation –R 42 611 156 (forty-two million, six-hundred and eleven-thousand, one-hundred and fifty-six Rands) through RBIG
- COGTA- R 2 578 725 (two-million, five-hundred and seventy-eight thousand, seven-hundred and twenty-five Rands) through MIG
- Swellendam Municipality-R 1 151 248 (one- million, one-hundred and fifty-one thousand, two-hundred and forty-eight Rands)
- Human Settlements-R 22 000 000 - 00 ( twenty-two million Rands)
During the construction phase, 109 people from the close communities were employed. These community members gained work experience that would make them marketable in the employment-seeking world.
This project will unleash the potential of the Swellendam town and Railton settlements to implement its 15 year development plans. The project will assist the towns to create an enabling environment for the creation of jobs. The capacity of the plant will no longer be a challenge in economic expansion.
This has allowed the Municipality to regain confidence to implement its housing and local economic developments. It is also encouraging that In terms of the Green Drop status, the Swellendam Municipality score has improved immensely from 47% in 2011 to 74.88% in 2013. With this upgrade, we expect even more improvement.
It is also very encouraging that the Water Master plan was been completed in February 2015.
In the final analysis, the co-operation and success of this upgrade by all three tiers of government will truly lead to an overall improvement in the lives of all South Africans, but more especially those within this area of the Southern Cape.
May this facility bring more hope to this community, improve the health status in society and develop the socio-economic situation in this municipality.
I thank you!
