Implementation of Small Community Owned Water Access Schemes
Ezibomvini Village
September 2022
1.Background
The Ezibomvini community is located near Emmaus and falls under the Okhahlamba Local
Municipality within the Uthukela District Municipality of KwaZulu-Natal. Ezibomvini is
approximately 4km travel distance from Emmaus and 18km from Winterton.
Currently only a portion of the village (northern section) is receiving water from a new
reticulated municipal supply. There is no indication of whether this supply will be extended into
the remaining areas. Current sources of water utilised by the community in the un-serviced
sections of the village include:
a municipal installed spring fed tank in a lower section of the village
local streams
a small community implemented and managed supply reticulating water from a spring to 10
households
rainwater harvesting
private borehole
a few undeveloped springs
A site visit was conducted on 22 September 2022 to assess the existing household reticulation
system and investigate some of the undeveloped springs with the aim to further develop these
in order to provide additional, or better, access to water for community households.
Fig1: Project location
Fig2 Project area and location of some identified water sources
2.Water Sources
2.1 Spring1 (Location: 28° 51' 46.60"S 29° 23' 53"E)
This is a small perennial spring being utilised by the community to supply a number of
households through a system that is maintained and managed by the community. Development
at the spring and installation of the reticulation was done by the community together with
Mahlathini Development Foundation. A small dam was formed around the spring and water
collected using a subsoil drain (slotted pipe, stone and geofabric) and piped to a 2200l tank at
one of the community households near the top of the village. Water is then reticulated to
smaller 220l drums fitted with float valves at 10 participating households. These households all
contribute to the running and maintenance of the supply.
There were some water “supply” issues resulting in the community digging up part of the dam
and the collection pipe in order to try access more water. The system is currently operating,
however, the filtration function of the original collection system has been disrupted. This could
lead to dirty or contaminated water in the system and/or pipe blockages.
Figs 3 & 4: Spring1 eye and small dam
Fig5: Drain pipe used to collect the spring water (dug up by community)
Figs 6 & 7: Main 2200l storage tank and example of 220l drum and float valve installed at participating households
2.2 Spring 2 (Location: 28° 51' 46.14"S 29° 23' 54.56"E)
This is an undeveloped perennial spring situated near Spring1. Initially the community using
Spring1 did not consider drawing water from this spring as the water was being used by another
section of the village (to the north). Most of the northern section of the village is now receiving
water from a municipal supply, but there is a small section of homesteads falling outside the
serviced area. These homesteads could benefit from receiving water from Spring2 at a position
closer to where they are situated. There appears to be a fairly strong flow from this spring and
there is a possibility of using some of the water to supplement Spring 1.
Figs 8 & 9: Spring2
2.3 Spring3 (Location: 28° 51' 46.31"S 29° 23' 53.18"E)
A third undeveloped spring lying between Springs 1 and 2 was also viewed. This spring was
indicated by the community as not perennial.
Fig 10: ”Spring3”
2.4 Spring 4 (Top) (Location: 28° 52' 13.93"S 29° 24' 13.03"E)
This spring is situated high up in the hills above the community and forms part of an old
community water supply system. The spring is protected and feeds water to a concrete tank.
Water used to then reticulate from the tank to sections of the community. While there is some
evidence of the pipe leading from the tank to the community, it is uncertain exactly where this
pipe fed to and what off take points were used.
At a site visit in November 2021 there was found to be no water coming from the spring.
However, subsequent to that visit the project’s team of Eco Champs opened up the covering of
the old spring protection structure and found water. It appears that over time ground
movement or erosion had possibly resulted in the “eye” of the spring becoming blocked. By
removing the concrete cover and debris the “eye” was unblocked and water could flow out
again.
The community managed to repair some leaks along the old pipeline down to the concrete tank
and water was able to flow to the tank. However, this pipe was later cut by the community due
to some issues around use of the water.
Figs 11 & 12: Old spring v-box with cover removed and the unblocked “eye”
Figs 13 & 14: Spring4 and the old concrete storage tank
2.5Other Sources
Other sources of water accessed by the community include local streams, rainwater harvesting,
a municipal spring fed tank and at least one private borehole.
3.Proposed Interventions
3.1Spring1
At spring1 assistance is needed to re-install the subsoil drain or provide a new method of
collecting the spring water. It is proposed to continue with the system the community currently
use and dig a new trench along the inside base of the dam wall and install a new longer slotted
drainage pipe and filter pack of 19mm stone and 80% shade cloth (or bidum). A new collecting
chamber / manhole will be constructed just below the dam and will join to the existing 40mm
HDPE pipeline running to the storage tank.
It may be possible to supplement the water at Spring1 with some water from Spring2 depending
on the relative heights of the two springs. If water can be supplemented then an additional (or
larger replacement) tank could be installed to increase the supply capacity to the existing or
additional homesteads.
Fencing is also required around Spring 1 to prevent livestock from directly accessing and
contaminating the water at the source. This fencing should be a minimum of 3m from the spring
depression and collection works and should extend to completely enclose the spring. A cutoff
drain above the spring and outside the fence line should be dug to prevent runoff entering the
spring and washing in potential contaminants. The down slope side of the drain can be stabilized
with vegetation such as vetiver.
3.2Spring2
At Spring2 it is proposed to build a concrete cutoff wall across the outlet channel of the spring
and to carefully fill behind this wall with larger boulders in order to support a cover over the
spring. An access “manhole” will be created over, or near, the main seepage / upwelling into the
spring.
A new pipe will be installed to convey water to the small northern section of the village not
receiving water. This section lies around the adjacent hillside but is below the elevation of the
spring. This small collection of homesteads would only require a small 2500l tank. At this time it
is not anticipated that water would need to supply more houses than that shown in fig 15 but
this would still be subject to discussion with the community.
The flow from Spring2 is estimated to be sufficient to supply a 5000l tank overnight. This means
that a portion of this water could be used to supplement water from Spring 1 in addition to the
supply to the small northern village section.
Fencing and a cutoff drain similar to that described for Spring1 will be required at Spring2.
3.3Spring3
No work is proposed to be undertaken at this source.
3.4Spring Top
This spring had been unused for many years and was thought to be dry. Water recently started
to flow again after the concrete covering of the structure was opened up. It is, however, unclear
as to how stable or assured this supply is over a longer period. Currently it is estimated that
there is sufficient water to fill a 5000l concrete tank overnight.
Repair of the spring v-box can be undertaken. This will require:
cleaning and removal of silt from the spring chamber
unblocking and re-establishing the overflow and outlet pipework
filling the structure with rock and rebuilding the cover
It will be important to ensure that the new cover protects but does not block the spring “eye”.
The current “eye” sits above the level of the existing v-box walls.
Once water is able to flow along the existing supply pipe to the tank then this pipeline and the
tank can be inspected for further repairs. It is recommended that the tank lid be opened in order
to inspect and clean out the interior of the tank. The condition of the tank appears good and no
major works are anticipated to the structure.
Since the exact extent of the existing pipework from the tank to the community is unknown, it is
suggested to replace this with new pipework and off take points (e.g. standpipes). It is
anticipated that this water will be used to supply village sections not covered by Springs 1 and 2,
the municipal spring fed tank and the new municipal water supply.
Fig 15: Example layout for supply from Spring2
Fig 16: Example layout of supply from Springs 1 & 2
Fig 17: Example layout of supply from Spring4 (Top)
3.5Reticulation
For planning of the possible water supply reticulation, the following assumptions have been
made:
Usage of 25 litres per capita per day for communal access. An average of 8 members per
household gives 200 litres per household per day. The guideline for yard taps is more at
55 l/c/day
Three perennial springs available to supply the community
Spring1: approximately 2200l/day or supply to 10 households
Spring2: approximately 5000l/day or supply to 20 households
Spring4: approximately 5000l/day or supply to 20 households
A provisional map and demarcation of the Ezibomvini community into a number of subsections
has been done in this report. This is for planning purposes for the water supply and reticulation
and is based on the position of available water sources and the area topography. The areas and
households marked are subject to confirmation and the subsections may bear no
correspondence to any traditional demarcation within the community. The areas shown are:
Area1 (Green): +- 15hh. This section has 10 households currently receiving water from
Spring1 into 220l yard drums
Area2 (Purple): +- 24hh. Municipal spring fed tank? Possibly to receive water from
Spring2 (10hh)
Area3 (White): +-11hh. No supply currently but possibly to receive water from Spring2
Area4: (Blue): +-18hh. No supply currently but possibly to receive water from Spring4
Area5 (Brown): +-22hh. No supply currently but possibly to receive water from Spring4
Examples of possible reticulation layouts from the three springs are shown in figures 15-17. This
is a preliminary rough draft for discussion purposes and to assist in finalising the project area
and scope of the support to be provided. In these examples it is proposed to provide centrally
based storage tanks in the various village subsections and then possibly reticulate to strategically
placed standpipes. Alternate options would be to end at centrally placed tanks or to supply
standpipes directly from the main storage tanks. In the case of Spring4 an additional
intermediate tank will most likely be required in order to reduce the pressure from the existing
concrete tank.
In preparing a more detailed plan and layout the following will be required:
Overall extent of the village or project area
Confirmation (exclusion) of areas with existing water supplies
Households to be included
Preference of reticulation supply to each village section
oCentral tank and tap
oNetwork of communal standpipes
oHousehold yard taps
oHousehold drums
One further note is that the current water flow from the springs may be affected by the recent
good rains experienced over the last month and the last few years. Although this is typically the
drier time of year for spring water measurement there is some risk that the current flow does
not represent the long term supply from these sources.
4Costings
The preliminary costing of the proposed work to be undertaken is presented below. This
includes:
Spring1
oRe-install collection drainage pipe
oConstruct collection chamber
oFence and cut-off drain
Spring2
oProtect spring
oFence and cut-off drain
oPipeline
oNew tank and standpipe
Spring Top
oRehabilitate spring
oRepair pipeline and tank
oNew pipeline to village – communal tanks
It is anticipated that revisions will be required depending on finalisation of the desired type of
water access, positioning of the water access points, the extent of the project area and the
number of participating households.
A Spring1 – Rehabilitate Unit Qty Rate Amount
1 Collection pipeSum 1 R2 500.00R3 000.00
2 Collection chamber Sum 1 R4 000.00R4 000.00
3 Fencing Sum 1 R3 500.00R5 000.00
Sub Total
R12 000.00
B Spring2 - Develop Spring2 Unit Qty Rate Amount
1 V-box Sum 1 R4 500.00R4 000.00
2 Fencing Sum 1 R3 500.00 R5 000.00
3 2400l / 2500l Storage TankNo 2 R7 000.00R7 000.00
4 Concrete SlabNo 2 R2 000.00R 4 000.00
5 32mm HDPE Pipe m 800 R14.00 R11 200.00
6 Fittings sum 1 R2 800.00R2 800.00
Sub Total R34 000.00
C Spring4 (Top) - RehabilitateUnit QtyRate Amount
1 V-box Sum 1 R2 000.00R2 000.00
2 2400l / 2500l Storage TankNo 2 R7 000.00R7 000.00
3 Concrete slab No 2 R2 000.00R 4 000.00
4 25mm HDPE m 2000 R8.00 R16 000.00
5 32mm HDPE m 1500 R14.00 R18 200.00
6 Fittingssum 1 R9 800.00R9 800.00
Sub Total
R57 000.00
TOTAL
(incl VAT) R103 000.00