“There are currently 5 major water infrastructure and 2 sewer upgrade projects in Senekal under construction.
We visited it today to get first-hand information about all the projects.
All the projects are the result of the day, eleven years ago, on 8 August, when Gert Keulder told us the news that all the water in Syferfontein dam had run out.
Older residents will remember the eight months of hardship when the whole of Senekal and Matwabeng had to live from water bottles.
Today’s almost RM 1 billion worth of upgrades is the result. Eleven years is relatively short in Government terms.
“Here is the new pump station on Syfer. The water will be pumped from the river here to the storage dam on Syfer. You can see that it is a huge difference to the single pump that was used up until now to pump water from the river to the dam. The time to fill the storage pond will be very fast and we will not lose so much water that bleeds away undisturbed.
The completion date for the construction part is March 2024, but then the pumps and electrical wiring still have to be done.
Perhaps at the end of 2024 the whole project will be finished”
“Here is the new Booster pump station that will pump water from the reservoir directly to the new water purification works with the new, 500 mm water pipe that has already been laid.
It will be raw water as no water will be purified at Syfer in the future.
Before that, they have already started the construction of a new, ultra-modern water purification plant on the head, behind Senekal town.”
“Everyone who regularly drives past the rugby field, on the way to town, knows that there is a huge problem with raw sewage running out into the field. The residents of the Retirement home knows about the sewer stench that is on the west side of the retirement home and the golfers can see the building across the river at the pump station on the golf course. In the photos below you can see the last part of the sewerage pipe over the bridge, which was specially built to cater for when the Sandspruit comes down.
The shiny pipe you see there is 200mm Stainless steel pipe which appears to be sourced from Taiwan. The pipe is heavy and the only person capable of welding the pipe is Pierre Heymans.
For those of you who don’t know; Senekal’s sewage plant has been dysfunctional since around 2016. This means that a very large percentage of raw, untreated sewage flows into the Sandspruit and ends up in Allemanskraal dam. The good news is that the upgrading and repair of the sewage plant has already begun.
Eventually, all sewage will flow back to the sewage works and be processed. However, it will take some time and before the sewer works can work, all sewage will be drained to empty all the dams to see what all needs to be repaired.
Again, the target date for completion is not until late next year. The good news is, this is another project that will improve the sewage and general health situation in the town.”
“New water treatment works.
The major project of almost RM350 is the new water purification works that are being built next to the new, large reservoir.
There is still not much to see in the photos as there was a lot of ground work done which is not visible.
Time shown we are looking at completion half 2025.
It is good to know that this is an ultra modern water works, one which on completion will be one of the three most modern water works in the country.”
“The other major project is the development at De Put which is already 95% complete.
There is a new pumping station that draws water from the river, new power distribution network, the new pumping station to the new water purification works on the head.
The pipeline has already been completed and in the interim the small water purification works next to Eskom will be used to increase the water capacity.
The other good news as you can see is that the dam at De Put is also almost full.
If the full capacity of De Put is added to the current water infrastructure, it will increase the total raw water capacity of Senekal by 40%!”
Please Note: Business details can change. All information is published in good faith as supplied by the providers. Please check with the provider that the activity/business is still offered as described above, before making any travel plans.
Customer Support – 082 350 2164
Senekal Municipality – 051 933 9300
Police Station – 058 481 6200
© 2024 Senekal Explorer. All rights reserved.
All information gathered and site created by Tailorweb
www.tailorweb.co.za
