eBook (pdf) - eWISA

eWISA Water History
1500 - 1799

1500-1510
1512: Water supply to ships in Mossel Bay. Dias named the fresh-water spring "Aguada de
São Bras" (watering place of St Blaize). In 1512, Gaspar Correa, described it as flowing over a
rocky verge into a small dam. The spring still flows today.
1510-1520
1520-1530
1530-1540
1540-1550
1550-1560
1560-1570
1570-1580
1580-1590
1590-1599
eWISA Water History
16 th
Century

1600-1609
1610-1619
1620-1629
1630-1639
1640-1649
1663: The survivors of the Haarlem, wrecked in Table Bay in 1648 recommended that a
victualling station be set up there. The weight of their recommendations is not clear, but
nevertheless the governing board of the Dutch East India Company, usually referred to as the
VOC, resolved to set up a temporary settlement at the foot of Table Mountain. This location was
preferred to the safer harbour at Saldanha because of the abundant fresh water running off the
slopes of Table Mountain
1650-1659
eWISA Water History
17 th
1652: Van Riebeeck established a VOC victualling
station in Table Bay, main water supply is Platteklip
Stream
1655: First environmental 'legislation' - aimed at
protecting water supplies from human fouling
Century
1655: When man arrives pollution follows. In 1655 van Riebeeck received a complaint from
the VOC that the crew of a ship had been made ill by water taken in at the Cape. This was a
serious indictment, not only on van Riebeeck's competency, but also of the suitability of the Cape
as a victualling station – there was competition from St Helena. He immediately issued a
"plakkaat" - the first South African environmental legislation - to prevent pollution of the water
source:
"Nobody shall turn sheep into the water, nor wash, nor stir
up the water above the flow of the beck and fountain
where the ships draw water, neither shall anyone dam or
divert the water. People may wash only at the proper place
on the east side of the moat of the Fort. They may not keep
geese nor allow them to swim there. Nobody may cross the
water furrow between the Fort and the Mountain with
wagon, cattle, or merely in person other than by the usual
places and bridges." And significantly: "Everyone of the
inhabitants shall clear away the mess dirt and dung heaps
in front of their houses".

1660-1669
1660: In 1660 van Riebeeck widened and deepened
the furrow, which now assumed the status of "canal" and
he built a dam for filling water casks near the jetty in
Cape Town harbour.
1663: Zachariah Wagenaar (settlement commander)
had a reservoir built in Cape Town for supply of water to
ships (Golden Acre - can still be seen at the lower level
of the arcade after restoration). This reservoir was 45 m
long and 15 m wide.
1670-1679
1670: A stone water course from the Wagenaar Reservoir was constructed to the jetty (to
supply ships with water) by Commander Jacob Borghorst, repacing the manual transporting of
water in barrels.
1680-1689
1687: Wooden pipes (made of Burmese teak, because local timber was unsuitable) were
introduced to supply water to and from reservoirs in Cape Town (Simon van der Stel was
involved). These "pipes" were actually "bored trees".
1689: Izaak Schryver camped next to a river where he encountered so many doves, he called
the river Duivenhok (Dovecote).
1690-1699
Jan Van Riebeeck Dam – Dept. Water
Affairs and Forestry

1693: In 1693 Simon van der Stel promoted the Superintendent of the Company's garden,
Hendrik Oldenland, to be the first Town Engineer of Cape Town. The Governor and his
technical assistant embarked on a series of engineering works, including improvements to the
Heerengracht and the Kaisersgracht which ran along the line of the present Darling Street,
bringing additional water to the Castle and linking the Heerengracht system to the Capelsluit.
Although van Riebeeck had named the main stream the "Varsche River" it soon became a
polluted drainage path.

1700-1709
1707: In 1707 Willem Adriaan van der Stel procured 200 lead pipes from the VOC to bring
fresh water from the foot of Table Mountain to the jetty; a four-jet fountain supplied the local
needs, and Cape Town was, waterwise, considered to be well provided for. Water for household
use was taken from the canals which ran alongside the streets while the well in Greenmarket
Square was the main source of water when the channels were dry.
1710-1719
1720-1729
1730-1739
1731: Initially the Dutch did not intend to establish more than a provisioning station at the Cape,
and although this policy was later modified, Cape Town remained a "company town" and growth
was slow. The Free Burghers who farmed on their own behalf on the outskirts of the city were
controlled by very restrictive conditions, and the Directors of the Company, the "Here Sewentien"
were very reluctant to spend any money on "unnecessary" infrastructure. Initially this attitude was
determined by greed and the profit motive; in the latter stages of the VOC's administration the
company was approaching bankruptcy and simply had no funds to spend. The grip of the VOC
weakened as it declined and the private citizenry increased. By 1731 the population was 3,157,
of whom a third were company employees. The town was growing, and the grid pattern
established by van Riebeeck was extended. The streets continued to be flanked by channels
which were both a source of water supply and a means of drainage.
1740-1749
1750-1759
1760-1769
1770-1779
eWISA Water History
18 th
Century
1770: Fresh water from the foot of Table Mountain (i.e Platteklip steam) to the jetty Buitengraght
canal established.

1771: In 1771 the Buitengracht canal (in Cape Town) was established to act as a cut-off drain for
the runoff from Signal Hill, and desultory attempts were made to install drainage in the main
streets. The Council voiced concern about the deteriorating state of the grachts.
1773: Uitenhage Springs: The Springs lie in pristine surroundings between the hills of
sandstone at the foot of the Great Winterhoek Mountains and are located 8 km north of the town
centre. The artesian water flows from the ground at nine eyes. The first burgher to farm in the
Springs area was a Mr C Viljoen who obtained a permit in September 1773 on the farm
Sandfontein. Viljoen was the brother-in-law of Gerrit Scheepers. He later dammed the water from
the Springs which cut off the water to Scheepers’ farm. The two quarreled resulting in ill-feeling.
Viljoen then sold his farm to Christoffel Kock, who was married to Scheepers’ daughter, Sara
Johanna. A few kilometres from the Uitenhage Springs are the Amanzi Springs, which are used for
commercial irrigation. Bifaces, a collective name for stone tools used in the Stone Age, have been
found at Amanzi and are at least 250 000 years old.
1780-1789
1790-1799

1. .Bartolomeu Dias Museum. Mossel Bay
2. .Woodhead Dam. 100 years. Centenary. City of Cape Town. ISBN 1-874924-
72-4
3. Tony Murray. History of Rivers and Drainage in the Cape Metropolitan
Area.
4. Timeline: Water Supply to the City: The first 300 years – circa
5. Raymer, David Anthony. A HISTORY OF PORT ELIZABETH AND
UITENHAGE’S WATER SUPPLY. Raymer, David Anthony, civil engineer.
Employed as graduate engineer in July 1980. Promoted to Assistant Water
Engineer in 1988 and Water Engineer (Operations) in 1990. Appointed
Assistant Manager (Bulk Water & Water Management) in 2004. Resigned in
February 2007 to work for consultants. He is the author of the book, Streams
of Life: A History of Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage’s Water Supply. * Port
Elizabeth 22.8.1953
6. Institute for Municipal Engineering in South Africa.
(http://imesa.vdw.co.za/AM/Template.cfm?Section=History&Template=/C
M/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=1479)
7. Wide Blue
8. Water, Water, everywhere...
(http://www.joburg.org.za/2004/dec/dec24_water.stm)
9. Scanned document "THE HISTORY OF WATER SUPPLY TO PRETORIA"
received from Mr.Koot Snyman of City of Tshwane.
10. Grobler, Roger R. (1996). A Framework for Modelling Losses arising from
Natural Catastrophes in South Africa. University of Pretoria.
11. Grant, George & Flinn, Taffy (1992). Watershed Town. The History of the
Johannesburg City Engineer's Department.
12. Table Mountain
eWISA Water History
References
13. Management of the WATER RESOURCES of the Replubic of SOUTH
AFRICA. The Department of Water Affairs. 1986.
14. Department of Water Affairs and Forestry - Sterkfontein Dam (
http://www.dwaf.gov.za/orange/Vaal/sterkfon.htm )
15. WISA: PAST AND PRESENT (Acknowledgement: The idea for this started
while chatting with Eric Hall, who also started the ball rolling with some of
his memories. The bulk of what is contained here is the work of Dave

Osborne - also known as the "father" of WISA - who painstakingly
researched the issue, and to whom we are deeply indepted)
16. Scanned document "Sewerage reticulation and waste water treatment"
received from Mr.Koot Snyman of City of Tshwane.
17. Information by e-mail: DARRYL MOSS. General Manager - Mining
Distribution. Metso Minerals. E-mail: darryl.moss@metso.com
18. Rand Water Corporate Profile
19. On route in South Africa - BPJ Erasmus

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