Phikwe safe as Letsibogo diverts to GC

Onalenna Kelebeile | Friday September 4, 2015 14:27

 

It will continue to be insulated even when supplies from Letsibogo Dam are diverted to Gaborone, Mmegi has established.

Letsibogo Dam, with a capacity of 100 million cubic metres, is presently at 41 percent,  having been drained from 77.5 percent at the same time last year, due largely to supplying the Greater Gaborone area through the North-South Carrier.

While the dam also supplies Selebi Phikwe, Minerals, Energy and Water Resources minister, Kitso Mokaila yesterday revealed plans to divert all supplies to the country’s parched south.

The Shashe-Phikwe pipeline will be used to cater for the mining town.

This week, Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) water engineer, Lucas Makepe told Mmegi that work was ongoing to refurbish the Shashe-Phikwe pipeline as a standby water source for Selebi-Phikwe.

“The challenge we are experiencing now is vandalism by farmers along the Shashe-Phikwe pipeline as they tap water to draw for their livestock,” he said.

“We have embarked on an exercise to replace the vandalised wash-up valves. We now need to intensify patrols along the pipeline.”

He said the corporation kickstarted a project called ‘Connection of Selebi-Phikwe to Serule Water Transfer Scheme’ where a consultant has been engaged for the alleviation of water shortages in the villages of Mmadinare, Damuchujenaa, Serule, Gojwane, Moreomabele and Topisi.

The design for the scheme has already been completed.

“Water supply in areas such as Bobonong has improved after a major refurbishment of some boreholes.  A power-line has been connected as well making some boreholes fully operational. As a result water situations in the village and Matshekge Hill have been addressed,” he explained.

He said the only areas of challenge were Tsetsebjwe and Mathathane, but these would be connected to the Thune Dam water supply. A contract has already been awarded for water treatment works within the Thune Dam periphery at a cost of P167 million.

The project, together with the Thune Dam water reticulation project, is scheduled to be complete in 2017. The water reticulation project, whose site handover has already been done, will also supply water to the irrigation farms around the dam and also to the villages of Bobonong, Molalatau and Gobojango.

On water quality, Makepe said this had generally been above standard, apart from a few challenges in some areas.

“Water from villages surrounding Selebi-Phikwe had a compromised sanity status due to contamination observed at storage tanks and within distribution mains.

 “Our plants in Mmadinare, Phikwe and Robelela are, however, compliant to the standards. Other villages pump directly from the boreholes hence the salinity component.

There were also traces in storage tanks, but we treated this,” he said.

 He noted that high levels of chlorine from the Selebi-Phikwe township reservoir had been experienced due to malfunctioning of dosage pumps.  This had led to a forced discharge of potable water.

“It has since been addressed and all the water that had a high content of chlorine was flushed out,” he said.