The refurbishment of the Ekulindeni Water Treatment Works, done by Lubisi Consulting Engineers, will address critical water supply issues, as well as improve access to clean drinking water.

“The project will bring some much-needed relief to the community,” says Mathew Mazhawidza, an engineer at Lubisi.

Before refurbishing

The state of the water treatment plant was one of disrepair and the water supplied to the area was erratic, with residents never sure of when they were with or without water.

The water treatment works have a capacity of 4 Mℓ/day, which Mazhawidza says, “should cater to the demand of the 4531 people population it supplies, but the constant breakdowns of the plant necessitated a refurbishment.”

Concern for clean, reliable water supply to the villagers is at the heart of this project and it also informed Lubisi Consulting’s design approach. “We did the usual, go out and collect technical data, but we also spent time consulting the community – which really brought the villagers’ frustration into perspective. It helped us focus on doing this properly,” says Mazhawidza.

The refurbishment

The project had the complication of needing to supply water, while the refurbishment was taking place. This task was managed through extensive planning.

“We had to cut off water supply while certain tasks were being performed. Ensuring everything that was needed was on site, and communicating our activities to the community was critical,” says Mazhawidza.

When the supply needed to be stopped, the community would be informed of exactly how long and when. This also meant that we had to stick to a planned timetable and rigorous time management was essential for these tasks.

“After informing the community of a break in water supply due to works on site, we always made sure that we restored water supplies on time as communicated in our notices to the community. This was very important for us. Periodic breaks in the water supply were unavoidable,” Mazhawidza explains.

“Excessive sludge had accumulated in the clarifiers, which led to poor efficiency in the overall water treatment process. Some components in the plant could only be assessed accurately during the times when we shut the plant down completely,” says Mazhawidza.

The weir

The water treatment works extract water from the Komati River, which has widely differing flows during the wet and dry seasons. Construction of the weir was necessary to ensure that during times of low flow, the raw water pumps would still be able to extract water from the river. The weir stands at an average height of 1.5 m and guarantees at least a 1.5 m of water depth throughout the year at the raw water pump station.

“I was excited to work on the weir, as it is not common on projects in the area. We had to divide the river into two parts while working, essentially constructing the weir one half at a time. This allowed us to divert the river to one side whilst we worked on the other side,” adds Mazhawidza.

The project began on November 1st, 2023, and is set to be completed before the end of the year. While working on the project, Lubisi Consulting Engineers was in constant contact with the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality to ensure that once the project was handed over, the municipality would be able to take care of the infrastructure. This includes the training of operators, creation of operation and maintenance manuals as well as proposed budgets for the operation of the plant going forward.

This refurbishment means that the community will no longer have to depend on alternative water sources, which are often contaminated or unreliable. “The project is really fulfilling from a technical aspect and a human aspect. Being able to work on interesting engineering projects that bring immense benefit to people is very rewarding,” says Mazhawidza.