Giyani Water Treatment Works Achieves Practical Completion, Supplying 28.5 Megalitres Daily

The DWS reported that the entire project is currently 72.66% complete, and additional villages will receive water as the remaining work progresses.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has announced that the Giyani Water Treatment Works (WTW) refurbishment has reached "practical completion" and is now fully operational, producing 28.5 megalitres of water per day.

The DWS reported that the entire project is currently 72.66% complete, and additional villages will receive water as the remaining work progresses. The upgraded plant can now supply treated water to Giyani town and various villages within the Mopani District Municipality.

The WTW receives raw water from Nsami Dam, which is supplied through a 40.5km pipeline from Nandoni Dam to Xikukwani Canal, completed on April 5, 2023. The refurbishment and upgrade efforts are overseen by the Mopani District Municipality, with Lepelle Northern Water handling bulk pipeline construction and DWS providing funding and technical oversight.

Work is ongoing to deliver water to the first batch of 24 villages, with the reticulation project in various stages of completion. Nine of these villages, including Ndindani, Ngove B, Mhlaba Willem, Bambeni, Homu 14A and 14B, Nwakhuwani, Risinga View A, and Mapayeni A, have reached practical completion, with water taps installed in yards and water supply active through the newly constructed pipelines.

For the remaining 15 villages, construction is ongoing, with interim water access provided through schemes such as borehole sources by the Mopani District Municipality. Efforts include installing bulk pipelines, connecting secondary pipelines to local reservoirs, refurbishing existing reservoirs, installing elevated steel tanks, and setting up reticulation pipelines and yard connections. Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the end of August 2024.

Phase 2 will focus on upgrading the Giyani WTW to increase its capacity by an additional 10 megalitres per day, starting in the 2024/25 municipal financial year and taking 24 months to complete. The Phase 2 reticulation will also extend to the remaining 31 villages during the same period.

The DWS expressed empathy for communities still facing intermittent water supply due to project delays and reiterated its commitment to successfully completing the multi-component Giyani water project.