Flood repairs: Umgeni Water board chair promises Durban a festive Christmas

• Umgeni Water announced that Durban communities can expect running water by Christmas.
• The board gave an update on progress made in repairing infrastructure damaged during the April flooding.
• Board chairperson Gabsie Mathenjwa said repairs were expected to cost around R850 million.

Bulk water supplier Umgeni Water promised Durban residents a running water supply by Christmas following the April flooding.

"Those planning for Christmas festivities must continue, there will be a better Christmas this year," said Umgeni Water's board chairperson Gabsie Mathenjwa.

During a press briefing at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant in Reservoir Hills on Wednesday, Mathenjwa announced that a contractor had been appointed to repair and refurbish Aqueduct 1 and 2, which are key pieces of infrastructure responsible for supplying Durban with its required 550 megalitres per day.

Mathenjwa said Aqueduct 1 was due for completion by December 2022, a few days before Christmas.

This would allow for an additional 40 megalitres per day of drinking water, nearly bringing eThekwini back to its daily requirement.

Aqueduct 2 would be completed by the end of June next year, she said, with "every endeavour made to fast track its completion".

Reservoir 3 repairs to be done

Mathenjwa said work on Reservoir 3, which requires essential floor waterproofing in order to become functional, was expected to begin soon.

While the contract for the work was awarded in November 2021, a legal challenge by a competing contractor stalled the repairs.

The matter was, however, resolved on 10 June in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, paving the way for the repairs to commence.

Mathenjwa said, once the contract was signed, it would take approximately four months.

"We have issued a letter of award and, as we speak, the contractor is already on site. The signing of the contract is imminent, and we expect that, if it is not done today [Wednesday], it will certainly be done by the end of the week."

The reservoir will create an additional 340 megalitres of storage space in the Durban Heights Water Treatment site.

Augmenting supply to eThekwini Metro

Mathenjwa said they were presently using the two remaining aqueducts, which were supplying 180 megalitres of water per day.

She said three out of four shaft pumps at Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant, which are standby equipment, were also being used to pump water.

"Since the deficit of raw water occurred following the damage of the two aqueducts, we initially began using three shaft pumps to transfer water from Inanda Dam to Durban Heights."

Umgeni Water began using the fourth pump on 16 June as an experiment to test their level of tolerance and efficacy, Mathenjwa said.

Each pump conveys 50 megalitres of water per day, with the fourth being a standby emergency pump. The fourth pump would be used just five days a week, Mathenjwa added.