The Fortuna drinking water treatment plant is back in operation. South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Judith Tshabalala, attended the official relaunch of the plant on 3 May 2024 in Balfour, in the municipality of Dipaleseng, in the province of Mpumalanga, following modernisation work. The plant now has a capacity of 19,500 m3 per day, compared with 6,500 m3 per day before the project began.
In order to triple the capacity of the Fortuna plant, a number of works were carried out, including the modernisation of the existing raw water pumping station and its associated pipes and fittings, and the laying of a new 400 mm diameter pipe between the intake point and the new inlet structure, capable of handling an additional flow of 13,000 m3 of drinking water per day.
“We are entering a new era in six Balfour neighbourhoods, because as I speak, water is flowing to all the houses in these neighbourhoods. The re-commissioning of this plant is in line with our democratic constitution, which reminds us that water is life, and that people must therefore have water”, explained South Africa’s Deputy Minister for Water and Sanitation Judith Tshabalala, at the re-launch of the Fortuna water treatment plant.
A step towards MDG 6
For the record, the Fortuna drinking water treatment plant, which was commissioned over 13 years ago, provides multi-barrier treatment using a combination of filtration, ultraviolet (UV) disinfection and residual chlorine disinfection. Its modernisation will enable South Africa to make progress towards achieving the sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) set by the United Nations in 2015 and adopted by Nelson Mandela’s country, which aims for universal coverage of drinking water by 2030.
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To support its vision, the southern African country is implementing several other water projects, including the project to upgrade the Maphumulo drinking water plant (6,000 m3 per day) in Ilembe in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The works will increase its capacity to 12,000 m3 per day by January 2025.
Inès Magoum