The meeting was held on 7 February 2025 and was attended by :
Ken Briggs (HRA)
Tobie Louw (HRA)
Jana Smith (HBC)
Rae Niewenhuys (HBC)
Stephen Muller (OSM)
Hanre Blignaut (OSM)
Introduction
- Tobie Louw opened and confirmed that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the plan for water delivery to Hermanus into the future.
- He spoke briefly about the latest Water Services Development Plan (WSDP) which annually provide input to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for Overstrand. There are many aspects that are thoroughly dealt with in the WSDP and TL felt that it would be good if the ratepayers understood the value of these assessments and plans. Also, the fact that OSM’s Engineers manage to sustain top Blue Drop status year on year.
- Hermanus is undoubtedly experiencing change due to population growth and increasingly more permanent residents. Not only that, but also due to substantial upgrades to many residential and commercial buildings. Although the reticulation model gets regularly updated, it was suggested that the designers take cognisance of the ever-increasing demands required for future development trends.
Current status
- The existing reticulation is getting older – for Hermanus some 57% of the water and 65% of the sewer networks are older than 20 years. This will invariably require more upgrading into the future and the financial model must be able to accommodate these requirements. The WSDP refer to the Asset Management Plan that is required to guide these upgrades. Aspects such as pipe material, age and condition are all considered to inform this plan.
- OSM current water sources consist of
– surface water via De Bos Dam,
– ground water abstraction from 3 registered well fields and
– re-use of partly treated wastewater. Latter is only used to irrigate sports fields and parks.
All 3 these sources are properly registered in terms of the required legislation and are managed very well.
As an example, there is a Management Committee for the wellfields who meet every 6 months where they review all the necessary abstraction monitoring results for that term. This data is sourced through a range of monitoring boreholes. The Management Committee also track and assess the quality of treated wastewater used for irrigation.
Into the Future
- The wellfields have some additional capacity.
However, another major bulk water source needs to be commissioned by around 2030. A range of sources had been investigated. These included
– bulk pipelines from either the Palmiet or Theewaterskloof sources,
– re-use of wastewater and
– desalination of seawater.
- Cost-benefit studies had been done, and the current decision is to develop a desalination works at the New Harbour that would treat a portion of the seawater being abstracted for the current abalone farm. It has the advantage that no additional sea water abstraction infrastructure is required.
- This is obviously a comprehensive project that will require careful design and many statutory approvals. In the interim OSM will continue with other measures that can delay the commissioning of the new plant. Such measures include
– demand management of the system through automated pressure control,
– minimising leakage and
– generally reducing unaccounted for water.
- There is also the option to increase the use of treated wastewater for more irrigation applications.
Conclusion
It was a good meeting, and we felt generally comfortable with the way that the OSM engineers are dealing with water planning for the future demand of Hermanus. It is however important that they share these plans more regularly with the broader community, eg through publications in the local press, via community structures and possibly by having an annual presentation at the municipal offices.
Prepared by Tobie Louw for HRA
