Page 31 - SAPREF 50 year

will never forget having a meeting with the Department of Water Affairs on 11 September 2001 when the world was focused on New York, and we were sharing our results and future plans in a wooden shed at the site. We have come a long way since then and it is rewarding to see the results of the hard work put into practice and completed successfully.”
Some of the numbers for the project are fascinating:
• 14km of buried piping used, ranging between 25mm and 150mm in diameter.
• 1188 valves of varying sizes used, from 25mm to 150mm.
• If all the extraction wells were joined together they would extend 8,7km into the ground.
• 519 000 litres of swimming-pool sand used as filter sand on the extraction well screens (880 tons).
• 970 plastic containers used for the well heads.
• The timber fence consisted of 92 tons of CCA-treated timber held together with approximately 60 000 galvanised nails.
• 14 500m2 of instant grass and 4000 special indigenous grass plants were planted.
A multi-disciplinary team was assembled to develop the pipeline replacement project. They were, standing from left, Mickey Maharaj (Health, Safety and Environment Advisor), Carmel Smith (Community Liaison Officer), André Fourie (Project Planner), Eric Lortan (Piping Inspector), John Thomson (Construction Supervisor), Rodney Trew (Security Officer), Margaret Rowe (Communications Manager), Clive Bulley (Contracts Procurement Administrator), Sandile Ngcobo (Project Commercial Co-ordinator) and Guy Wuytack (Coating Specialist); and sitting, from left, Sophia Khan (Community Liaison Officer), Janos Piegl (Resident Civil Engineer), Ebrahim Vawda (Project Manager) and Brenda Dunn (Community Liaison Officer).
• 12 750 indigenous trees and shrubs and 47 000 ground covers were planted
• Eight tonnes of fertiliser and 45m3 of compost were used.
The authorities are satisfied with the work SAPREF has done on the site and they have given the green light for the sight to be demobilised. The process of removing all equipment and wells is expected to be completed in 2013.
As to the three houses, instead of selling the houses and making a clean break with the area, SAPREF has donated the homes to three NGOs to be used as family units for orphaned and vulnerable children. We went through a process of selecting childcare NGOs that in
our view, and in the view of the provincial Department of Social Welfare, had the capacity and the experience to do what we intended for the houses.
One home is going to SOS Children’s Village for use as a transition home for teenagers who can no longer be accommodated at children’s homes because of their age. The second one
is going to Durban Child Welfare, also for use as a transition home for teenagers who can no
longer be accommodated at children’s homes because of their age, and the third one is going to Mzamo Child Guidance for use as a home
for vulnerable children with disabilities. Each home will be run by a housemother who will act as a parent to the children in a model that mimics a “normal” family unit. The children and their caregivers are expected to move into the homes before the end of 2013.
New pipelines installed
After the leak was discovered, an independent study into the condition of the seven transfer pipelines between SAPREF and Island View recommended that two lines be recoated. During the tender process an alternative proposal was offered and it was decided to replace all the pipelines. The project, which was carried out from 2006 to 2008, cost approximately R340million and was completed without any lost time injuries.
SAPREF employed three community liaison officers (CLOs) to communicate with stakeholders along the pipeline route.
Said Brenda Dunn, one of the CLOs, “Our mandate was to keep stakeholders informed of
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