Groundwater relief for
Middelpos school
A school in the drought-stricken western Karoo, Middelpos
Primary School, was landed with an R18 000 water bill in February
this year. A more sustainable plan had to be made.
Case study by SRK
“We began drilling
the borehole in the
school yard on 16
March 2017 and
completed it on the
same day.”
Water Sewage & Effluent March/April 2018
innovations
Chris Esterhuyse, SRK
in March last year to identify
a potential drill site on the school
property.
Esterhuyse points out that there
were no prominent geological
features linked to the occurrence of
groundwater on the school property
and nothing could be identified
from satellite imagery. “However,
detailed surface geological
mapping of the area revealed a
narrow joint system that intersects
the property, and we selected a drill
site there,” he adds.
On another property, adjacent to
the town, a second, backup drill site
was selected on a prominent east-
west striking dolerite dyke; this was
considered the most promising of
the two drill targets.
“We began drilling the borehole
in the school yard on 16 March
2017 and completed it on the same
day,” says Esterhuyse. “We were
pleased when fresh groundwater
was intersected at 34 metres below
ground level (mbgl) with a measured
drill stem blowout yield of 2.8 litres
per second.”
The borehole was completed to
a final depth of 50mbgl and a water
sample submitted to UIS Analytical
Services in Kimberley for quality
analysis.
L
ocated in the small town of
Middelpos between Calvinia
and Sutherland in the Northern
Cape, Middelpos Primary School
and its hostel were subject to the
water restrictions in the Hantam
Local Municipality — but clearly
could not afford the water it needed.
Through a provincial Department of
Education programme to alleviate
the water crisis in schools, RE
Construction was awarded the
tender to provide a solution.
Bernie de Jongh of RE
Construction approached SRK
Consulting, a firm of consulting
engineers and scientists, to site a
water supply borehole within the
school property to alleviate the
water challenge.
De Jongh explains that there
was an existing borehole at the
hostel, but owing to numerous
sewage pits in the vicinity, the
water quality was unsuitable for
human consumption.
However, he points out, the
school is upstream of the town
and the likelihood of finding
potable groundwater in this area
was an option and considered to
be fairly good.
SRK principal hydrogeologist
Chris Esterhuyse visited the area
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