SIPHELELE BUTHELEZI

WATER and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina, on 25 October commissioned the newly upgraded Hazelmere Dam. The commissioning of the dam comes after the Department of Water and Sanitation completed a project to raise the dam wall by seven metres to increase capacity of storage as well as augment water supply to areas such as Verulam, Groutville, Blythedale, and Ballito.

Minister Majodina said the North Coast has experienced rapid growth in recent years, especially in the housing sector which resulted in an increased demand for potable water. “The Department of Water and Sanitation upgraded the Hazelmere Dam wall to meet the needs of the increasing population in the North Coast as it is our role to ensure bulk water supply. The concerned municipalities should now roll up their sleeves to ensure that water is directed to households,” said Minister Majodina.

The project scope of the work entailed the raising of the dam wall from 86 metres to 93 meters. This included the construction of retrofitting a Piano Key Weir (PKW) onto an existing dam spillway structure, the installation of 83 rock anchors, as well as foundation grouting and other minor related works.

Minister Majodina expressed that the Hazelmere Dam forms part of the country’s state-of-the-art dams. “The Hazelmere Dam can now be measured against world-class standards due the type of spillway selection, technology, and innovation used in implementing the project,” she said.

The dam has an uncontrolled PKW spillway, this was done to ensure that the dam wall withstands extreme concentration of floods of between six and eight hours for the dam catchment area.

Some of the employed technologies undertaken to upgrade the dam wall included the world’s highest PKW, the world’s largest anchors were installed to improve stability of the concrete gravity dam wall structure, and the largest capacity post-tensioning stressing jacks were deployed during construction. Some of the technologies employed included the use of innovative data management software for real-time monitoring of anchor performance, and 3D digital crack meters.

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City commissions boreholes in areas struggling with stable water supply

There was ululation when officials from the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit and Ward Councillor Fakazi Mdletshe unveiled a new borehole in Ward 60, in the Mhlasini area. | Picture: THULI DLAMINI

SIPHELELE BUTHELEZI

The Municipality commissioned five boreholes recently in areas experiencing water supply challenges.

The boreholes were commissioned in Ward 60, Mhlasini area 2 in Verulam, Ward 100 in uMlazi V-Section and the Nwabi area, and Ward 98 in Nkwali Mahagana and Mgobhozini.

These communities will no longer rely on the tankers for their water supply as the boreholes are in the communities as part of interim relief.

Ward 60 Councillor Fakazi Mdletshe expressed gratitude and said the borehole will go a long way in mitigating the water supply challenge in the area.

“We appreciate having a borehole in the Mhlasini area because relying on water tankers is not sustainable as these trucks do not come to the area every day. The Mhlasini area has grown rapidly with many households and residents. This resulted to the water bulk line not having capacity to meet the growing demand. There is not enough pressure to push water to this area; however, this is being attended to through infrastructure upgrade,” said Councillor Fakazi.

The borehole produces 2 000 litres a day and can run up to 20 hours a day. Water produced from the borehole has been tested and complies with the South African National Standard 241 for drinking water requirements.  

Residents are discouraged from washing their cars, clothes, and connecting hosepipes to and from the borehole taps to their household static tanks.

“I urge residents to look after this borehole as it has been installed for their benefit. I hope I will not hear any reports of the theft of taps and other components as this will be a setback for residents who rely on this water. Also, the water must be shared equitably,” he said.

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