Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, [email protected]
CONSTRUCTION of the huge water booster pump stations at Lake Gwayi-Tshangani in Matabeleland North province has breathed new life into the project which aims to provide a permanent solution to Bulawayo’s water crisis.
Funded by local resources, the project is part of a multi-pronged approach by the Second Republic. It has been undertaken to address the funding challenges encountered during wall construction.
The China International Water and Electric Corporation (CIWE), which won the tender for the booster stations, has made significant progress in establishing them.
A total of six booster stations will be constructed along the 245km pipeline to Bulawayo and a Chronicle news crew yesterday observed teams busy at work at different segments of the project on the border area between Lupane and Tsholotsho Districts.
The Government has roped in 11 companies to execute the pipeline project. Teams comprising locals and Chinese nationals were multitasking at the construction sites under the supervision of the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).
Engineer Elliot Makombe, the Zinwa resident engineer responsible for the Gwayi-Tshangani-Bulawayo pipeline project, said the pipeline’s completion would depend on the success of the multi-pronged approach that includes the construction of the booster pump station.
“We are constructing two of the five booster pump stations. Right now we are in booster pump station number three. These booster pump stations will help us convey water from Lake Gwayi-Tshangani to Bulawayo,” he said.
“This tank where we are carries about 6,6 megalitres and it’s duplicated from the dam to Bulawayo.”
Eng Makombe said he was supervising the construction of five booster stations with two more falling under the construction of the dam site.
He explained how water will be pumped from the dam site to Bulawayo.
“Between pump station number two in Mabale to this tank, there is going to be a big tank where pump station number two pumps in water and it gravitates to this booster pump station.
“This booster pump station pumps to the next station, which is pump station number four to five and the sixth one, which is around Nyamandlovu,” said Eng Makombe.
“From the Nyamandlovu, water will be pumped into the treatment plant in Cowdray Park and then to Magwegwe Reservoir and some will be pumped to Criterion Reservoir.”
He said 220 megalitres will be pumped to Bulawayo daily, which will address the water crisis as the city requires about 160 megalitres per day.
Eng Makombe said at each of the pump stations, 200 hectares of irrigation schemes will be established turning the region into a green belt while communities along the pipeline will also benefit from the water resource.
“So, at every pump station, there is a provision for a 200ha irrigation scheme and along the way, there is going to be some provision of clean water supply, especially around Mabale, Hwange National Park and Dete. We are going to put a borehole there,” he said.
“From there up to Bulawayo, we are going to provide schools and clinics water for use.”
Eng Makombe said the booster pump stations will be constructed at a cost of US$167 million, adding that the financing model of the contract demands that contractors finance 30 percent of the project. He said this had enabled commencement of the construction of the booster pump stations.
“People may ask why we are constructing before the completion of the dam. We are riding on the terms of this project. There was a 30 percent pre-financing clause, so the contractor you are seeing here is using their own money,” said Eng Makombe.
“The contractor is using 30 percent of US$167 million to construct pump station number two and number three.”
Eng Makombe said the contractor sometimes works night shifts to ensure the project sustains structural integrity.
“As you know we are in the Kalahari sand area and the foundation for this pump station was very tricky; the sands are very sensitive to loading. So, we had to excavate to stabilise the soil and put the geomembrane to ensure water does not leak,” he said.
“On top of the geomembrane we had to put concrete binding and that is where we started this foundation, including concrete for this 6,5 megalitres tank. We have concreted the bottom and we are now concreting the walls.”
Eng Makombe said the pump station will only be tested for functionality when the dam is completed and water is pumped into it.
“This pump station when completed needs to be cured and this tank needs a lot of water so, it has to wait for the completion of the dam construction.
“It’s a big station. We can’t use boreholes and we can’t use tanks. So, the functionality of the pump station depends on the completion of the dam,” said Eng Makombe.
He said the project has also benefited locals who have been employed in the various stages of the construction process.
-@nqotshili
Online Reporter