10NewsGrocott’s <strong>Mail</strong> Friday, 8 October 2010Backyard boreholes draw from water tablePrudence MiniThe increase of boreholedrilling in Grahamstowncame up at therecent water indaba. Expertssay that this is robbingGrahamstown of its naturalresources.During the water indaba,Technical and InfrastructuralServices director, DabulaNjilo said a licence is requiredto drill a borehole which isissued by the Departmentof Water Affairs. He addedthat if there is an increase ofdrilling then this also needsto be reported. Makana municipalspokesperson, ThandyMatebese said the municipalitydoes not have a registerfor boreholes which is why itwas recommended during theindaba to develop a policy thatwould deal with the monitoringand approval of new andexisting boreholes. It wasalso suggested that metersbe installed to charge peoplefor depleting the local waterresources.A borehole is sunk deepinto the earth to locate, extractor use underground water.Boreholes around towncan be spotted by signs placedin front of the property. Thisindicates that the people livingon the property use waterfrom the borehole, usually forirrigation purposes. It turnsout that some boreholes aredrilled illegally which may bea reason why some run drylater.A property on BennetStreet has a borehole that wasdrilled in 1986 but is now dry.The owners utilise the waterfor irrigation purposes andhired a contractor two monthsago to drill 150 metres downbut found no water. They saida permit was not required asthey were drilling within theirDRIED UP... This borehole is located at a residence at BennetStreet. It was drilled in 1986, but has since run dry.Photo: Prudence Miniyard. Another resident saidhe also hired a contractorto drill a 90m deep boreholein his yard in February thisyear. “I got quite a lot of waterwhich was found within aTENDER ADVERTISEMENT 2010/11Makana Municipality hereby invites submission of tenders for the following: -TENDER NO. TENDER NAME BRIEF DESCRIPTION BRIEFING SESSIONDATE42/2010 Calls for Proposals-Supply of OverheadBare Conductor(till 30 June 2011)43/2010 Supply and installationpalisade fencing atAlicedale Substation44/2010 Maintenance of substationbuildings46/2010 Supply of 2x Hestia oncurved 16 pole streetlighting for high street inGrahamstown47/2010 Supply and installationof battery in the protectionrelay• Hare & Rabbit• Squirrel• Fox• Ferret• Hyena.• The area is 15mx25m• 1x Pedestrian Gate• 1x 4m sliding Gate• 2300x40x40x4mm rolledpalisade pales•Replace doors•Roof and window repairs•Scrape and repair ceiling andCornice•Smooth walls and repair allwall cracks•Painting as per specification• To be suitable for wind speedsof 120 km/h at sea level•Wind surface area for eachluminare=0.2m 2• Hot dipped galvanized andpainted with a high corrosiveresistant paint.• 60 units of 1DCC IDMTLRelay• Re-testing of the relay oncethe battery has been changedN/A14/10/2010 at 11h30 c/oAlicedale substation,Alicedale13/10/2010 at 11h30 c/oElectricity Department-Trollope Street, SugarloafHill GrahamstownN/AN/Awater-bearing rock, quartz asit fractions easily and watercan easily enter it,” he said.He is however sceptical of thewater quality. He said that heconducted a water quality testCLOSING DATE22/10/2010 before12h00am22/10/2010before 12h00am22/10/2010 before12h00am22/10/2010 before12h00am22/10/2010 before12h00amFurther details are available in the specification documents (at Admin Section) prepared for the above purpose at a non-refundablefee of R200.00 per document to be paid at Finance Directorate. All tenders submitted will be adjudicated in terms of the Council’sSupply Chain Management and Preferential Procurement Policies.THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS MUST ACCOMPANY TENDERS SUBMITTED BY PROSPECTIVE SERVICE PRO-VIDERS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO BE CONSIDERED, (FAILING WHICH THEY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED): -(a) Valid Tax Clearance certificate, (b) Certified copy/ies of Identity Document/s of Directors, (c) Certified copy/ies of CK1 or CK2documents, (d) Valid Certificat of Good Standing with your municipality (with contactable references), (e) Completion of MBD4form (Declaration of Interest), (f) MBD8 form (Declaration of Bidders Past SCM practices) and (g) MBD9 form (Certificate ofIndependent Bid Determination) (h) Service providers within Makana Area of Jurisdiction should provide proper proof of residencesuch a Municipal account or telephone account.Late submitted, faxed, falsified and e-mailed tender documents will not be considered or will be disqualified. No bids will beconsidered from persons in the service of the state. Construction related projects must be implemented in terms of the ExtendedPublic Works Programme (EPWP) guidelines.Completed tender documents must be dropped in the tender box locatedat the Administration Section of the Corporate Services Directorate, City Hall, Grahamstown or be posted to reach the MunicipalManager, P.O. Box 176, Grahamstown, 6140 by not later than the closing time as indicated above.For any enqueries contact MrJonhson Siteto or Xhanti Bokwe at 046-606 6063. The Council does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tenders.MUNICIPAL MANAGERMS. N.L. BAART Notice No 49/2010which revealed a high saltcontent in the water. “I can'treally use it for drinking as thewater is hard and not ideal.I just use it to keep my lawnsgreen,” said the resident.“I do think there are a lot ofboreholes in Grahamstownand you will get a lot of peoplethat will say they starteddrilling because of the waterrestrictions not allowing us towater our lawns with municipalwater,“ he said. The residentsaid he did not obtain apermit to drill the borehole.Another property in Grahamstownhas two boreholesbetween 70 and 100m deepwhich is used to irrigate sixhectares of crops. The residentson the property saythat this does not diminishGrahamstown’s water supplyas they have had to rely onusing borehole water whenthe city’s supply ran dry for afew days. They acknowledgedthat a permit for the Departmentof Water Affairs (DWA)is required but are not awareof the municipality’s requirementsother than waterrestrictions.A 2004 study by SRKEngineers and Scientistsstated that 64% of all groundwaterextracted via boreholesis used for irrigation. DWAcurrently has over 34 000boreholes on their databasefor the Eastern Cape andsome of these are monitored.According to the DWA regionalGroundwater Office, thereare 11 registered boreholesreported in the vicinity ofGrahamstown.Dr Jim Cambray of theKowie Catchment Campaign(KCC) noted that when themunicipality makes the findingsof the water indabapublic we will understandtheir thinking on the useof groundwater within themunicipality. “Groundwatermust be considered as oneof the municipality’s watersources for the future andnow we need to take care ofboth the quality and quantityof this resource,” hesaid. He added that studiesfrom around the worldhave shown that this sourceis being depleted. “We needto know how long it takes torecharge our water table inGrahamstown. I have heardthat boreholes have gonedry in town and that now youhave to drill deeper for water.A proper study needs tobe conducted on our groundwater resource. Can we reallyjust keep putting in boreholeswithout any controls?”According to the lawGeneral authorisation of groundwater use in terms of Section39 of the national Water act, 1998 (act no 36 of 1998), statesthat extraction can be performed in five zones and each zone isentitled to a volume that can be extracted per hectare each year.Under Schedule 1 use of Section 39 of the act, a person can usewater from a borehole without a licence for reasonable domesticuse, small scale gardening and not for commercial purposes ofnot more than 10 cubic metres (m 3 ) or in other words five fullbaths (provided the bath is a maximum of two metres long, onemetre wide and one metre deep).Small industrial users such as people who process or bottlefood or mine on a small scale are also included under Schedule1 and may not use more than 20 cubic metres (m 3 ) per day. aborehole drilled for Schedule 1 use does not have to be registeredwith Department of Water affairs (DWa). DWa asks that individualsdo this on a voluntary basis so that they may have data onthe groundwater use of the country. If the General authorisationvolumes are exceeded, a license to use groundwater is required.Grahamstown’s regulationsThe country is divided up into different zones according to availablewater. The Grahamstown area falls under Zone C, where aperson can extract 75 m 3 per hectare each year. Small industrialusers may extract up to 20 m 3 per day.The DWa eastern Cape Groundwater Plan assists the easternCape region management to effectively execute the requiredgroundwater functions. according to the plan, there isn't much extractionmonitoring taking place but groundwater level monitoringis slowly being established.The municipality’s Water and Sanitation Services By-lawsdocument (which you can download from the municipal websitewww.makana.gov.za) states that boreholes are subject to anyrequirement of the national Water act, 1998. It also states thatthe Water Service Provider (an authorised agent) may require theowner or occupier of any premises who intends to sink a boreholeto undertake an environmental impact assessment as no personmay sink a borehole on premises situated in an area wheredolomite is found.according to geologist Dr nick Stavrakis, dolomite areas arefull of caves and tunnels so drilling into it will deplete water resources.It also removes the hydrostatic pressure support underground,creating sink holes where the sub surface falls in. “It isknown to happen that sink holes with underground tunnel systemsare so cavernous that they have been known to drain wholelakes on the surface,” he said.www.grocotts.co.za
Grocott’s <strong>Mail</strong> Friday, 8 October 2010WATER11Water is life!...report all water related problemsto this toll free number:080 111 88 88WATER-SAVING TIPSINGCEBISO ZOKONGA AMANZI‘Water is life! Save water, save life!’Why should we worry?We have severe water restrictions because our dams are desperately low. We live in a chronically water-stressed area with erratic rainfall and frequent droughts. We need to use less water.Collect the water you use for rinsing fruits and vegetables, then re-use it to water houseplants or for cleaningWash your car or pet on the lawn using a bucket and you'll water your lawn at the same time.Take a shower instead of a bath and shorten your shower by a minute or twoFix leaks and/or report all signifi cant water losses to the property owner and or the municipalityReplace your lawn with indigenous shrubsInstall a rainwater tank or two beside your house.Support efforts and programs that create a concern for water conservation among tourists and visitors to your townReport all water-related problems to this toll-free number: 080 111 88 88'Amanzi bubomi! Yonga amanzi,usindise ubomi!'Ngani ukuba sizikhathaze?Kumiselwe uKuminywa kwamanzi kuba umthamo wawo kumadama ethu wehlile kakhulu.Sihlala kummandla osoloko ungenamanzi, omvula singaqinisekanga ukuba zifi ka nini nothandwayimbalela.Kungoko kufanele ukuba sinciphise iindlela esisebenzisa ngazo amanziQokelela amanzi ohlamba ngawo iziqhamo kunye nemifuno, uze uwasebenziseekunkcenkcesheleni izityalo zekhayaHlambela imoto yakho okanye izilwanyana zasekhaya kwibala lengca usebenzisai-emela, wobe unkcenkceshela ingca yakho ngaxeshanyeHlamba eshawareni endaweni yokuhlamba ebhafi ni ze unciphise nexesha lokuhlambangomzuzu okanye emibiniNgciba okuvuzayo okanye yazisa umninimhlaba (mastandi) okanye uMasipali ngenkcithoeyenzekayo yamanziEndaweni yebala lengca, lima imithana yemvelo (indigenous shrubs)Yiba netanki elinye/ezimbini zokuqokelela amanzi emvula.Xhasa imizamo neenkqubo ezivuselela inkxalabo yokongiwa kwamanzi kubakhenkethinabatyeleli bedolophu yakhoChaza zonke iingxaki ezimalunga namanzi kule nombolo isimahla: 080 111 88 88‘Water is lewe! Bespaarwater, bewaar lewe!’WATER-BESPARINGS WENKEWaarom moet ons bekommerd wees?Ons het streng water beperkings omdat ons damme se water vlakke baie laag is. Ons woon in‘n gebied waar daar chroniese water tekorte is as gevolg van wisselvallige reënval en gedurigedroogtes. Ons moet minder water verbruik.Hou die water waarmee jy groente en vrugte afspoel en hergebruik dit om die huisplantewater te geeWas jou motor en troeteldiere op die grasperk en gebruik ‘n emmer sodat jy terselfdertydjou grasperk natleiStort eerder as om te bad en verkort die duur van jou stort met ‘n minuut of twee.Maak alle lekplekke reg en meld alle beduidende water verliese aan by die eienaar en/ofdie munisipaliteitVervang jou grasperk met inheemse struikeRig ‘n reënwater tenk of twee op langs jou huis.Ondersteun pogings en programme wat ‘n bewustheid oor waterbesparing onder toeriste enbesoekers kweek.Meld alle water-verwante probleme aan by die volgende tolvrye nommer: 080 111 88 88Valid from 1 October to 15 December 2010Jojo watertank2500LtYebo water tanks2 500LtR1 195.955000LtR2 299.9546 Bathurst Street, Grahamstown Tel: 046 636 2127 Fax: 046 636 1825R&SPLUMBINGSERVICES8 Howse St, GrahamstownTel: 046-622 6373 all hoursFax: 046-636 1082Cell: 082 555 9171MariusBarnardPlumbing & renovations.Roof, gutters, watertank,driveway steamcleaningand Building contractors.24hr service.Cell: 079 968 7299Water tip: Buy a watertank and save waterD & A Timbers• 34 Bathurst Street •Tel 046 622 7301 • Fax 046 622 8739Save waterMake sure your taps are correctly closedUse water wisely.Water Tips:• Home owners to fitRainwater Tanks andPressure pumps and userainwater when Municipalwater supply fails.• Utilise Grey Water tomaintain gardens, eitherby gravity or fitting a smallGrey Water Tank and pump
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