Work on Emalahleni major water pipeline on track

Friday, February 27, 2015

Pretoria - The planned Majuba tie-in and maintenance outage on the bulk water pipeline supplying Kriel in Emalahleni Local Municipality is proceeding according to plan, says the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

This outage started on Monday and is planned to end on 9 March 2015.

“All prior preparations in this regard have led to a smooth start and operation of the outage over the past few days of the first week,” said the department’s spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.

Ratau said the DWS was performing maintenance work on the pipeline, installing new valves and replacing leaking pipes with new ones as Eskom is busy with the construction of a railway line from Ermelo to Majuba Power Station.

The railway line crosses the DWS pipeline between Rietspruit reservoir and Davel.

Eskom therefore requested a DWS outage to tie in with the permanent deviation of the pipeline to the existing structure as per the DWS approved design.

The deviation of the structure has been approved by DWS engineers and they are involved with the quality control during the construction phase.

In order to assist water users to access water for the duration of this outage, Ratau said the department and Emalahleni Local Municipality are supplying water through strategically placed jojo tanks within a reasonable distance.

“The department is confident in the capacity of its workforce engaged in this task and that the work will be completed within the time targeted. The work that has already happened gives the department the full confidence that all care is being taken to ensure there are no glitches and the work has demonstrated how single-mindedness of purpose can achieve a lot,” he said.

The department and all stakeholders have requested patience and cooperation from all who are affected so that the planned outage period is not exceeded.

“The department apologises for the inconvenience caused. However, this planned outage is important for maintenance and sustainability of the infrastructure,” said Ratau. – SAnews.gov.za