According to the Department of Water and Sanitation, the Construction Unit of the Department is rolling its sleeves, readying itself for the construction of the long-awaited Bulk Water Pipeline, Tsomo Ngqamakhwe bulk water pipeline, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The pipeline is one of the water projects to be undertaken by the department this financial year and it is set to improve water supply to Ngqamakhwe, Butterworth and surrounding areas. Project designs have been completed and the project engineer is on-site awaiting the Department of Labour to check all the requirements before the commencement of any construction work.
To date, a site for building a reservoir has been identified, so has the road crossing and the route for village crossing. The location where a pump station will be built has been identified and the area where the pipe will traverse along the slopes to the village has been identified. The department has also started engagements with local project teams as well as with the social facilitation and engineering teams.
Phase 1 of the project which consists of the construction of a pump station, reservoirs and a pipeline from Tsomo Water Treatment Works to Ngqamakhwe is expected to cost approximately US $27.8m.
Phase 2 consists of the construction of a bulk water pipeline from Ngqamakhwe to a reservoir and the last phase will be the construction of another bulk water pipeline from the command reservoir to a water treatment works in Butterworth.