Botswana’s North-South

Carrier Water Transfer Scheme

a strategy for ensuring economic growth
INTRODUCTION
Increasing mining activities and an ex-
panding population in eastern Botswana
mean a growing demand for water.
This need has been anticipated by the
Botswana government, and its long-term
strategy is now facing its second phase
with the development of the North-
South Carrier water transfer scheme Francistown

by the country’s Ministry of Minerals,

Energy and Water Resources (MMEWR). Shashe dam

Dikgatlhong dam

Leading infrastructure development firm Shash

e river

PS1.2

Bigen Africa has been appointed as the Node 1.2

Dikgatlhong
Pumping Station
Shashe
river

MMEWR representative. Letsibogo

Pumping Station

2
1A
k
Lin
Letsibogo dam
PS1.1

Node 1.1 r

EMERGING ECONOMY
se rive
Motlout

Botswana C
Selebi-Phikwe
1

An emerging economy in the SADC re- BP k 1B .2

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Moralane Pumping Station Moralane BPT

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gion, Botswana is strongly reliant on its 2 BP k 1 No
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km 50
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mining activities, especially of diamonds,
2
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which are focused in the eastern area

de
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around the capital of Gaborone. Th is

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Palapye SC
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wellfield
Palapye km 100

area is also the most populated region in C

Link 2B2
SR2B
BPT2B Palapye Reservoirs
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W 3 river
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ane
Palapye WTW
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er

the country. Increasing water utilisation Lots

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Palapye Pumping Station PS 2B Lotsane
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here is being addressed by the North-

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k3
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South Carrier (NSC) water transfer Tewane BPT

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scheme, initiated by the Botswana gov- 3A

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ernment, not only to meet a fundamental Mahalapye Reservoir 5 C Mahalapye

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and WTW
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human need, but also as a key require-

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THREE-PHASE WATER SUPPLY PLAN po

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The implementation of the NSC up- 2 km 250

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grading works, a three-phase plan,

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is being led by the MMEWR, with

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km 300
Civil Engineering November 2012 49

FT4B
A2
9
South Africa
Link 4CB2
10 Node 4BA
Bokaa dam Link 4CB1
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Node 4C
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Bokaa Discharge
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The principal components and

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rive
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work packages of the NSC
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Mmamashia PS5.2 11
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Pumping Node 5
Station
Gaborone
LEGEND
Node 6 Power required
PS6.1 Node 6A NSC 1 NSC 2 C Operational control centre W Water Treatment Works Refer to application for reference numbers
Gaborone dam Gaborone Discharge
responsibility for water resource
planning, control, legislation and
regulation, while the Water Utility
Corporation is participating as op-
erator and key technical partner.
The second phase of the NSC (NSC-2),
of which the planning stage commenced
in 2007, is aimed at completing a water
transfer strategy that feeds on various
dams, existing or newly emerging from
the first phase (NSC-1, completed in
1999). Second-phase construction is
set to commence in the second quarter
of 2012, with Bigen Africa acting
as the MMEWR representative.
In the mid-1990s, the Botswana
government adopted a national water
supply plan which identified the need
for the NSC to connect Letsibogo
Dam on the Motloutse River to the
Mmamashia water treatment works in
northern Gaborone, and to supply the
Palapye and Mahalapye water treatment
works. Mmamashia is also supplied
from the smaller Bokaa Dam, directly
north of it. The first phase included the
importation of raw water into Gaborone
from the Moletedi Dam in the North
West province of South Africa, and
the construction of the Letsibogo and
50 November 2012 Civil Engineering
Shashe Dams which feed on three tribu-
taries of the Limpopo River in central
Botswana – the Motloutse, Shashe
and Tati Rivers. Construction of the
Dikgatlhong Dam also commenced,
along with its connection to the first-
phase break pressure tank number 1.
This dam is at present nearing comple-
tion and should be substantially filled
by the time the NSC is commissioned.
Upgrading of various aspects of phase
one is still to be commissioned.
Pumping stations are located at
Letsibogo, Moralane and Palapye (with
another envisaged for Seroroue) and
deliver from 1 175 ℓ/s to 2 300 ℓ/s, with
operational capacity of between 2 MW
and 3 MW respectively. The fi rst-phase
pipe varies in diameter from 1 400 ND
to 1 100 ND and was constructed from
a combination of materials, including
GRP and steel. Further pipes will be
constructed from either steel or ductile
iron, while consistency in other principal
plant and material selections, including
the key requirement of local maintain-
ability, is required by the government.
Communication and control signals
will mainly be by fibre-optic cable with
backup by wireless radio data link.
Ian Bettesworth, Executive Director of Bigen Africa, in the foreground,
at the signing of the 1.5 billion pula NSC-2 EPC contract, together
with officials from the MMEWR (client) and the CWJV (contractor)
In order to protect and control
access to the NSC, the MMEWR has
resolved to acquire and register rights
to the NSC corridor from Dikgatlhong
Dam to Mmamashia. A single cor-
ridor, varying between 50 and 70 m in
width, will be acquired to accommodate
each of the three phases, the fibre-
optic communication backbone and
the maintenance road. Environmental
investigations have been undertaken
for the primary corridor, and a manage-
ment entity is in place. Further investi-
gation and authorisations were pursued
on bedding and gravel-wearing course
materials along the route of the second
phase. Borrow pit leases and mining
licences are also a requirement.
In phase two, the direct water transfer
route will run primarily alongside north-
south traffic route A1 and pass the de-
mand nodes of Palapye, Mahalapye and
Mmamabula, where raw water is treated,
en route to Mmamashia in northern
Gaborone. National electricity generation
occurs at Morupule within the Palapye
complex, and potential export generation
can be established in the future on the
Mmamabula coal field between Mahalapye
and Gaborone. Water reclamation from
the Gaborone water treatment works at
Glen Valley is also planned to supplement
local water resources.
Eutrophication of local Gaborone re-
sources in the Bokaa and Gaborone Dams
(and in future of the Dikgatlhong Dam) is
a technical matter that requires manage-
ment and design consideration.
As far as phase three is concerned,
the MMEWR has initiated environmental
scoping and prefeasibility planning. An
overall NSC transfer decision support
system, factoring in current resource
storage levels, water quality, treatment
demands and pumping and treatment
costs, will be established to determine
water source and transfer requirements
from local resources, and via the three
phases of the NSC.
The NSC is expected to deliver
45 Mm³ of water per annum and costs
were estimated, in 2010, to amount
to P5.5 billion. The summarised
yield of the eastern Botswana dams
is calculated at 95% assurance, and is
expected to meet the demand until
2035 or so, after which further aug-
Source:
http://www.saice.org.za/downloads/monthly_publications/2012/2012-Civil-
Engineering-November/#/0
mentation will be needed, most likely
from the Zambezi River in the Kasane
area where the Botswana govern-
ment has a significant allocation for
both primary use and agriculture.
It is anticipated that second-phase
construction will be completed within 24
months, with commissioning and trial
operation expected by mid-2014.
UPGRADING STILL IN THE PIPELINE
For purposes of effective management
and redundancy, the three phases of the
NSC have been planned as separate, inde-
pendent delivery systems within a single
corridor, but operating under an integrated
communication and control system.
Upgrading work which still needs
to be done includes the introduction of
variable speed drives at some of the dams,
the construction of a new dam, and the
adjustment of the main transfer link be-
tween the Bokaa Dam, the Mmamashia
water treatment works, the Gaborone
water treatment works and the Gaborone
Dam. The Palapye water treatment works
need to be doubled and at Mmamashia,
Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association
pre-treatment and secondary treatment
works need to be added. At Gaborone,
treatment works for raw water and other
process upgrading must be undertaken,
with construction of further secondary
treatment works to follow.
Second-phase implementation fol-
lows a three-stage bid procedure, namely
pre-qualification, pricing and EPC de-
sign, and bid development. Local content
is a key requirement of the Botswana
government to ensure a direct contri-
bution to the growth of the national
economy. The preferred bidder for stage
2.1 of the NSC is CWJV (WBHO and
CCC) and the professional service pro-
vider for Dikgatlhong Dam and NSC-2A
is the Bergstan, Gauff and Jeff ares &
Green joint venture. For stage 2A of the
NSC, the civil contractor is the China
State/Excavator Hire joint venture.
INFO
Annette van Zyl
Communications Manager
Bigen Africa Services (Pty) Ltd
annette.vanzyl@bigenafrica.com
Civil Engineering November 2012 51
www.sappma.co.za