17 Mar 2014

The original yield of the Khudumelapjwe borehole was 4.4 millilitres per day, but over the years, the yield dropped and as from February this year the yield has been 1ml per day.

Answering a question in Parliament on behalf of the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse said the water demand for Khudumelapjwe was 1.1 ml per day.

He said this resulted in a deficit of 0.1 ml per day while the borehole was operated 24 hours a day in an effort to meet demand.

The minister said to mitigate the situation, plans were under way to connect Khudumelapjwe to the Letlhakeng water supply scheme.

He noted that to address the supply situation, a treatment plant would be constructed in Letlhakeng during the 2014/15 financial year and would be connected to the scheme.

Mr Seretse said it would not be cost effective to connect Khudumelapjwe to Sorilatholo as the surplus from the plant was negligible and would not make a difference towards addressing the deficit of the Khudumelapjwe supply.

He said Water Utilities Corporation currently bowses to Khudumelapjwe to meet demand while the ministry awaits the interconnection of the village to the Letlhakeng scheme.

The MP for Letlhakeng West, Mr Ngaka Ngaka had asked if the minister was aware that the Khudumelapjwe borehole had a yield of less than 1 cubic metre which resulted in the village not having water at all or parts of the village receiving small amounts of water due to low pressure.

He also wanted to know how long the situation had been going on and what would the minister do about it.

Mr Ngaka Ngaka asked whether it would not be cost effective to use the water plant in Sorilatholo and Malwelwe to supply water to Khudumelapjwe. ENDS