Upgrades to the Hazelmere Dam by the Department of Water and Sanitation are set to meet the needs of the increasing population on the North Coast.
The dam wall was raised by 7m to increase the capacity of storage and augment water supply to areas like Ballito, Verulam, Groutville and Blythedale.
Minister Pemmy Majodina said the wall was raised from 86m to 93m to address water challenges in some parts of KwaDukuza, eThekwini Metro, and iLembe Municipalities.
“The Hazelmere Dam can now be measured against world-class standards due to the type of spillway selection, technology, and innovation used in implementing the project,” she said.
Majodina said the dam had an uncontrolled spillway to ensure the dam wall would withstand extreme concentrations of floods for between six and eight hours for the dam catchment area.
“Some of the employed technologies undertaken to upgrade the dam wall included the world’s highest spillway, the world’s largest anchors were installed to improve stability of the concrete gravity dam wall structure, and the largest capacity post-tensioning stressing jacks were deployed during construction,” she said.
Innovative data management software included real-time monitoring of anchor performance and 3D digital crack metres.
eThekwini Municipality said it would prioritise areas where there are high levels of water wastage to manage the higher demand in line with the ongoing water curtailment.
The City implemented the water curtailment by Umngeni-uThukela Water on October 10 and will be gradually implemented in the next 12 months to ensure that the uMngeni system is brought to the licensed volumes and is maintained at this level.
The curtailment is being implemented to enable continued water availability, including during periods of below-average rainfall while plans to augment water supply are underway.