26 Jul 2023

Tswapong South villages are supplied with water from the Mahalapye water treatment plant and Pallaroad wellfield through a 68-kilometre pipeline from Mahalapye to Moshopha.

Minister of Lands and Water Affairs, Dr Kefentse Mzwinila said the pipeline was a 400-millimetre diameter microcellular polyvinyl chloride (mPVC) class 12 and takes off from Mahalapye to Moshopha collector tanks through gravity.

He said from the tanks water was boosted through pumping to the cluster villages of Sefhare, Pilikwe and Ramokgonami.

Dr Mzwinila said the breakdown of the Mahalapye-Moshopha pipeline on May 28 was due to dirt or debris accumulation in the burst control valve, causing it to malfunction.

To mitigate the problem, he said a strainer was installed to trap the dirt or debris and that there had since not been any bursts.

Furthermore, he said there were two breakdowns on the Moshopha-Sefhare 22.5-kilometre pipeline on June 4 and 27, which were caused by a leakage on one of the air release valves due to loose nuts following a pressure build-up after tank closure.

The minister said the system was on manual operation and was now being automated through telemetry and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) to automatically stop the pumps when the tanks got filled up.

He said the ministry was aware that the reticulation system in Tswapong South villages had reached its design lifespan.

He said the scope of the recently completed project was limited to installing new transmission pipelines and associated infrastructure that supplied bulk water to various villages in Tswapong South.

Dr Mzwinila said the network reticulation would be carried out as a different project and would form part of the projects to be considered during NDP12.

He added that there were no immediate plans to rehabilitate the existing network within the region due to budget constraints and explained that the network upgrade would be considered during the next development planning period.

Additionally, he said the Moshopha pump station had a standby generator, which was installed because Moshopha pumped water to the Sefhare, Pilikwe and Ramokgonami clusters using electricity while the other areas in the region transmitted water through gravity.

Sefhare/Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang had asked the minister to update Parliament on the state of Tswapong South water connection to the North-South Carrier water pipeline.

He wanted the minister to state what caused frequent pipe bursts on the main line from Mahalapye to Moshopha collector tank and between the collector tank and the village tanks.

He further wanted to know if the minister was aware that old pipes were being used to reticulate water in the affected villages, resulting in frequent pipe bursts and water supply interruptions.

Dr Gobotswang wanted to understand if there were plans to replace old pipes and if the minister would consider installing power generators as back-up in the event of power outages. Ends