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Thupeyo Muleya-Beitbridge Bureau
The Government, in partnership with the Zimborders Consortium, has spent over US$6 million in upgrading Beitbridge’s water infrastructure in line with its transformation into a medium city, an official has said.
Project coordinator, Engineer Stephen Rupiya, said among other things, the funds were spent on the construction of a 14,5 mega litres reservoir with a floating roof on a hill east of the town.
The facility is set to boost water supplies in the town, which has over a decade been dogged by intermittent water shortages.
Eng Rupiya said the water infrastructure development project was part of the out-of-port civil works under the US$300 million border transformation initiative.
He said the water tank that had been commissioned by Zimborders Consortium will soon be handed over to the Government for further management. Beitbridge town has an estimated population of 70 000 and another 15 000 in transit daily requires at least 18 mega litres of water daily.
However, the current storage facilities can only carry 10,4 mega litres.
“This reservoir tank is very unique starting from its design and it can supply Beitbridge town with enough water and any other immediate town close by,” said Eng Rupiya.
“It was designed by a gentleman based in South Africa who is credited with designing some of the multi-nuclear tanks in Russia.
“He gave us instructions and drawings as guidelines for civil works and he only came on site twice to check for conformity.”
He said they completed civil works in under nine months and that the reservoir had a unique floating roof that was cast from the floor and lifted by the hydraulic thrust of the water.
It took the contractor 28 days to fill up the tank and lift the rooftop of the tank whose walls are 900 millimetres thick.
A test run of the facility has been completed and the contractor is now working on the final touches before its handover to the Government.
“To enhance durability, we used the strongest cement and steel which gets stronger as it ages. This is a lifetime investment that will address water problems in this town.
In addition, the reservoir is located atop a higher hill enabling it to supply water across the town through gravity should we have some power cuts,” said Eng Rupiya.
He said other out-of-port works include 220 border staff houses, a sewer oxidation dam, a fire station, road rehabilitation, and the construction of a new fire station among other things. Civil works on the houses are at varying stages while the sewer oxidation dam and the fire station have been completed and handed over to the Government.
Beitbridge town clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola said: “We welcome the construction of the water reservoir. It will increase our storage capacity which is enough to supply the town for one and a half days.
“Additionally it will improve pressure in high lying areas and address water availability issues to areas that were receiving water intermittently.”
It is envisaged that the local authority should in the next three years upgrade its water storage facilities to carry at least 54 mega litres enough for three days.
In addition, in the next 10 years, they are planning to be having facilities to supply 100 mega litres of water in three days. A resident from the Vhembe View suburb, Ms Tatenda Pachawo, said the community was excited that the water infrastructure was being upgraded in tandem with the town’s population growth.
“We appreciate the massive infrastructure developments in our town, especially on the aspect of improving the water supply infrastructure and the roads,” said Mr Raniel Ndou of the Tshidixwa suburb.
Ms Selinah Mabidi of Dulivhadzimu suburb said the new infrastructure will ensure that water is evenly distributed across the town, especially in new western suburbs, where there are ongoing water deficiencies.
She said the risk of recurrent water-borne diseases will be gradually eliminated as people get a constant water supply as a result of this investment.
Ms Martha Moyo from Limpopo view suburb said: “We really appreciate this project and we hope the scarcity of water will decrease and also hoping that more residents will have access to clean water to get rid of diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.”
Online Reporter