Rand Water on Thursday commissioned the first phase of the two-phase Station 5, a 600-million-litre water purification plant to be constructed adjacent to the existing Zuikerbosch water treatment plant, near Vereeniging.

Phase 1, Station 5A, will deliver 150-million litres of potable water a day into Rand Water’s system, and by the end of 2024, the second phase, Station 5B, will add an additional 450-million litres a day of water supply.

A major milestone in Rand Water’s infrastructure upgrading and augmentation strategy to ensure sustainable future water supply to its customers and municipalities across Gauteng, the project will bring the overall augmentation to 600-million litres a day into the system.

This followed the recent commissioning of the 210-million-litre-a-day Vlakfontein Reservoir, under the Mepleton System, in Ekurhuleni, aimed at increasing water security for parts of Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, with the newly built reservoir adding to Vlakfontein’s existing 420-million-litre-a-day reservoir, bringing the site’s total capacity to 630-million litres.

The new Vlakfontein reservoir also brought the number of Rand Water’s reservoirs to 59, with another 13 new reservoirs being built from now until 2028, increasing the water board’s capacity by 25% from the current 6.1-billion litres a day to 7.63-billion litres a day.

This is as Rand Water undertakes a five-year R28-billion infrastructure augmentation and renewal plan, announced last year, across its entire network to ensure sustainable water supply to South Africa’s most populous province.

In 2010, Rand Water started with the planning and development of an additional augmentation scheme at Zuikerbosch Station to increase both its water treatment and pumping capabilities, which will augment Rand Water’s capacity.

Zuikerbosch Station was built and commissioned in 1954, as Rand Water’s Vereeniging Station reached its maximum. Thereafter, additional stations were commissioned at the site, namely Zuikerbosch Station 2A in 1965; Zuikerbosch Station 3, in two phases, in 1975 and 1978; and Zuikerbosch Station 4 in 1984, with additional augmentation during 1998, according to Rand Water’s 2022 annual report.

Zuikerbosch has a nominal treatment and supply capacity of 3.8-billion litres a day, supplying potable water to the four booster stations Zwartkopjes, Palmiet, Mapleton and Eikenhof situated on the southern outskirts of Johannesburg, from where the water is distributed to major customers

Meanwhile, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu handed over a fleet of 36 vehicles, such as bakkies, and yellow fleet comprising of TLBs, tractors and other machinery, to enable the Emfuleni local municipality and Section 63 Project to carry out the operation and maintenance of water and sanitation infrastructure that is currently undergoing refurbishment and upgrade.

In 2021, Mchunu invoked and placed the Emfuleni local municipality under Section 63 of the Water Services Act, effectively taking over, after the municipality was unable to manage its water and sanitation services, which had resulted in sewage spills in communities and into the Vaal river, and ultimately polluting the raw water source.