Pictured: The first phase of the Cape Recife Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) project is on track

The Cape Recife Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) Project is on track, says consulting engineering company, GIBB which was appointed by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to carry out the entire upgrading of the Cape Recife WWTW.

“We are currently busy with the concept design for the upgrading and it has been proposed that the upgrade is achieved through phases,” says GIBB’s Technologist and Project Leader, Gerald Smith.

Smith reports that the project’s first phase, which is expected to begin during the course of 2013, is aimed at addressing service backlog issues, after which it is expected that the new inlet works will be constructed. The last phase is anticipated to take place towards 2020. The project value is estimated at R130 million.

GIBB’s appointment by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality came after the company’s environmental study recommendations.

GIBB was commissioned by the municipality to evaluate the risk that the migration of the Noordhoek dune field had on the Cape Recife WWTW and other infrastructure in the region.

The mandate from the municipality stipulated that two alternative management methods be investigated, one being the stabilisation of the Noordhoek dune field and the other, the relocation of the infrastructure in the area.

However, during the course of the study, another option emerged from the research. While abandoning of the existing maturation ponds had considerable advantages, a proposed upgrade of the WWTW presented the opportunity to extend the existing delivery of treated effluent for irrigation purposes to more users than just the nearby Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the Humewood Golf Course. A return effluent scheme supplying water to inner city and beachfront lawns, flower beds and trees has long been on the cards. The improvement in quality rendered this a safe and highly desirable option.

Remarking on other projects that GIBB is currently undertaking in Port Elizabeth, Smith says that the company is busy repairing water leaks at schools and indigent households. “We are also busy with the construction of township services as well as construction of services at the Walmer Park Shopping Centre.”