Rural water scheme wins design accolade
18 February 2014
An innovative municipal water project in Oudtshoorn has been selected as part of
World Design Capital 2014, a prestigious designation bestowed on Cape Town by the
International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.
The Oudtshoorn project is one of 450 selected to be part of the WDC2014 programme.
It was chosen via rigorously adjudicated public submission processes that drew 1 253
entries. All projects were selected on the basis of how well they use design as a tool
for social, cultural and economic development.
The Klein Karoo Rural Water Supply Scheme (KKRWSS) was implemented by the
Department of Water Affairs in the early 1990s. It supplies drinking water from
groundwater sources to a wide area that stretches from De Rust in the east to
Calitzdorp in the west, including the town of Dysselsdorp.
The scheme was a brainchild of a "visionary councillor" Issy Baron, who dreamed of
turning the arid Klein
Karroo into an oasis to ensure water security for all the
communities in the region, said Paul Müller, acting director: technical services at
Oudtshoorn Municipality. It was transferred to the municipality in 2005.
The rural component of the scheme accounts for about 50% of the total supply of
drinking water. Its main beneficiaries are farm workers and previously disadvantaged
people living in the rural area between De Rust and Calitzdorp.
But the present supply from the groundwater source was insufficient to meet demand,
so augmentation of the source was urgent, said Müller. A pipeline from the nearby
Blossoms groundwater well field will alleviate the shortage.
Dr Chris Hartnady of Umvoto Africa, a consultancy that has been working with
the municipality, said they would use groundwater from the deep fractured-rock
aquifer in the Table Mountain Group (TMG) to augment the Melville and Raubenheimer
reservoirs in the foothills of the Swartberg
range.
It would also augment other groundwater sources, providing additional assurance of
supply to communities like Dysseldorp and De Rust.
The scheme will manage the combined ground- and surface-water sources to ensure
that yield is optimised and losses are minimised.
The proposed bulk water scheme will be designed by WorleyParsons, which has been
involved with the feasibility studies to date. Partners have included the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, the Water Research Commission,
the Department of Water Affairs, the Development Bank of South Africa, local
stakeholders, landowners and farming organisations and drilling specialists.
The municipal cost to date has been R24-million and an additional R27-million has
been allocated by the Department of Water Affairs. The total cost of the project is
estimated at R200-million.
Rowena Hay, the MD of Umvoto Africa, said the project area also had potential
as a
geoheritage site – a tourist destination that would provide local and regional economic
benefits throughout the year. This would create more income for the community and
help ensure greater buy-in to the project.
Source: Umvoto Africa
Umvoto Africa Technical Director Chris Hartnady and Oudtshoorn Mayor Gordon April are working together to ensure water security for the area's communities via the Klein Karoo Rural Water Supply Scheme (Photo: Umvoto)