Joburg Water is looking to spend nearly R1bn over five years to expand and upgrade its vast water system alongside maintenance and refurbishment of the current infrastructure.
The entity has 95 reservoirs, 35 towers and 67 points directly feed from Rand Water and has a combined storage of 1,943Ml with an average annual daily demand (AADD) of 1,783 Ml per day.
This translates into 27 hours of storage capacity but is subject to “consumption and water patterns” as well as people’s social habits when it comes to using water, according Logan Munsamy, the senior manager for networks at Joburg Water.
Munsamy said while the storage capacity is above Joburg Water’s standard requirement of 24 hours for reservoirs and four hours for water towers, there are certain constrained systems: Bryanston, Hurst Hill, Forest Hill, Erand Tower water districts, President Park and Erand Reservoir water districts.
To address these challenges and meet the demand, projected to reach nearly 1-million by 2041 without an effective water demand management strategy in place, Munsamy revealed a two-pronged approach: the construction and upgrade of reservoirs and towers and the implementation of interventions to conserve water.
The construction and upgrade of towers and reservoirs is estimated to cost R771m. These projects commenced this year and are set for completion between 2024 and 2025.
They are:
Erand Tower: Will have a 2Ml capacity and is now in construction phase. The tower is expected to be completed in April 2024, after commencing in February 2023. The project was delayed due to the discovery of “hazardous material [asbestos] on site” and was put on hold between July 25 and August 28 to “address issues regarding the removal of asbestos”. It will cost an estimated R78m.
Robertsville Tower: Is in procurement phase and will have 2.25Ml capacity upon completion in April 2024. A re-tender is expected to be presented to the bid specification committee (BSC) this month. It will cost an estimated R55m.
Woodmead Reservoir: Will have 22Ml capacity and is being constructed with an expected completion date of April 2024. A tender has been awarded and the construction started in March 2023. The estimated cost of this reservoir sits at R51m.
Halfway House Reservoir: This reservoir is in procurement phase and will have 20Ml capacity upon completion in April 2025. The project will cost an estimated R60m, and the tender documents have been completed and are “being reviewed”. There is also the “finalisation of the land acquisition process”.
Blue Hills Tower: Will have 1.8Ml capacity and is in design phase. It will cost an estimated R55m upon completion in July 2025 and is at “detailed design stage with land acquisition in progress”.
Carlswald Reservoir: This is in procurement phase and will have 20Ml capacity upon completion in May 2025. The tender has been advertised and closed on September 2023. It will cost an estimated R80m.
Linbro Towers: These towers will cost an estimated R100m and is in design phase. It will have 3Ml capacity upon completion in February 2025. The project is “at documentation stage and is expected at BSC” this month.
Brixton Reservoir and Tower: These are the most expensive projects and will cost a combined R292m — more than a third of the combined cost. They will have 26Ml and 2Ml capacity, respectively, upon completion in March 2025. They are in construction phase, with only 13% completed after work commenced in July 2023 despite the tender being awarded back in December 2022.
Munsamy explained that four of the eight projects are concentrated in Midrand because: “Midrand in particular is one of the areas with rapid growth. Furthermore, the acquisition of land and other legislative processes may be quicker and hence these projects are rolled out sooner than others.”
The entity also plans “strategic interventions” as part of its water consumption and water demand management. The entire cost is estimated at R206.3m over a five-year period.
Joburg Water’s physical losses (water wastage) is 24.1% and the overall non-revenue water, which is the water the entity is not generating revenue from, is 46.1%.
Midrand in particular is one of the areas with rapid growth. Furthermore, the acquisition of land and other legislative processes may be quicker and hence these projects are rolled out sooner than others.
— Logan Munsamy on construction of reservoirs, towers in Midrand
They are:
Repairs to leaking reservoirs and tower infrastructure: The entity revealed that leaking reservoirs in need of urgent refurbishment, allocated about R30m, were identified during previous financial years. Soweto reservoirs identified include Aeroton, Meadowlands and Power Park. The Jabulani Reservoir bypass was also affected, but it has been repaired. However, “the assessment and rehabilitation of the reservoir will be undertaken in the current financial year”. A consultant for Aeroton has been appointed and is “working on the preliminary design report”.
Repair and replacement of zonal bulk water meters: This exercise will cost an estimated R15m, and the entity explained that to improve zonal metering, two “framework contracts have been awarded for the supply and delivery of bulk flow meters” as well as the repair and maintenance of bulk flow meters.
Active and passive leak detection/New pressure management zones and minimum night flow analysis: This will cost a combined R22m (R2m and R20m respectively), and two contracts have been awarded to manage both.
Retrofitting and removal of wasteful devices (including prepaid meter installation project): The R30 project continues in Orlando West, Diepkloof and Orange Farm. Meters have also been installed in Cosmos City and Orlando East so far, bringing the total number of meters installed to 36,256 with 1,223 still outstanding due to various reasons.
Bylaw enforcement: R15.3m has been set aside for this with the tender to deal with illegal connections now before the BSC.
Water pipe replacement: This carries the biggest tag, sitting at an estimated R54m. Joburg Water revealed that to date, 11.3km of pipeline has been replaced, while 25,226 properties have been retrofitted.
Domestic consumer meter replacement/Large consumer meter replacement: The cost of the first now sits at R40m, while the latter has no price attached to it. Joburg Water cancelled a tender for advance metering infrastructure technology, which was meant to reduce commercial losses “by implementing technology to the top 1,500 bulk water customers”.
The tender for the supply, delivery and provision of training of STS prepaid water meters has been awarded, and the procurement of STS prepayment through the contract has resumed. Joburg Water says the “use of these meters will improve utility revenue and reduce commercial losses”.
Spokesperson Nombuso Shabalala said there was a vast difference in the spend on new infrastructure and maintenance because the entity “needs to focus on building infrastructure where there is vast development to meet the demand for water and sanitation services”.
Shabalala said it was difficult to predict when the situation would normalise as “the system is so fluid and changes due to various factors”.
“However, the system is steadily recovering to acceptable levels, with exception to some areas that are still impacted, which we outline in our daily systems updates,” she said.
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