Construction World December 2023

TONGAAT WATER TREATMENT WORKS EMERGENCY REMEDIATION WORKS

T he Tongaat Water Treatment Works (TWTW) is situated in the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. At present, the Works provides potable water to the greater Tongaat area through seven neighbouring reservoirs. The design capacity of the works is 21Mℓ/day, with current operating capacity of 19 Mℓ/day. On the 11 th April 2022 KwaZulu-Natal experienced unprecedented torrential rains which caused substantial damage to municipal and private infrastructure, consequential risk to life, interruption to essential services as well as severe access limitations to residents and businesses al ike. The flood damage to the TWTW rendered it non-functional and prevented the supply of piped potable water to approximately 90 000 residents from 12 th April 2022. Naidu Consulting were appointed to provide professional services including identifying repairs, replacements and reinstatements on various civil, mechanical, process, control & instrumentation and electrical infrastructure. Notable impacts of

the 105-day mandate. Naidu Consulting, in collaboration with eThekwini Municipality, implemented complete transparency to all stakeholders, including local leadership, to ensure the project received community support and met CPG and local labour targets, whilst also achieving skills transfer/upliftment to Local Emerging Contractors. Through continuous and dedicated collaboration between the Client, Contractor, and Engineer, the Professional team ensured that delays and risks were minimized, resulting in optimal and innovative engineering solutions. Naidu Consulting were actively involved in the commissioning activities of all pumping systems and aided EWS throughout the process of the pumping system restoration including situational assessments and identification of bursts for EWS Operations to resolve. The project successfully provided potable water to the community within the near impossible 105 day period, with the Treatment Works restored to an optimised operating condition. 

the flooding included the flooding and submergence of the Motor Control Centre (MCC) panel, all pumps & motors (no. 20), electrical & instrumentation equipment (including some 15 km of cabling); as well as critical structural damage. The project was classified as an emergency and the Works was to be recommissioned to 21Mℓ/day capacity within 105-days. Naidu Consulting has always strived to provide innovative and sustainable solutions throughout any project life cycle. This philosophy, combined with a highly skilled and experienced professional team enabled Naidu Consulting to ensure each element of the project was assessed based on risk, timeframes, applicability and innovation in order to meet

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Company entering: Naidu Consulting • Client: eThekwini Water & Sanitation • Main Contractor: Icon Construction • Project Manager: Naidu Consulting • Consulting Engineer: Naidu Consulting

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22 nd Best Projects Awards 2023