No Power, No Water

The township of Pearly Beach was established about 50 years ago. The area was surveyed, unsurfaced roads were laid out and over 1500 plots were demarcated. A pipeline was brought 10 kilometres from the dam on Groot Hagelkraal farm to the newly-built concrete water tower in Crest Road. This tower, which was gravity fed, provided a head of water that had enough pressure to supply the whole of Pearly Beach.

Originally, there was a simple sand filter up at the dam, but about 20 years ago a filtration plant was built on the corner of Charlie van Breda Drive and Melkhout Street. It consists of a reservoir with filters and a pump station. From here the reticulation system is pressurized and water is pumped to the tower. When the pump stops working, it is the force of gravity that feeds the pipes from the tower. When the tower becomes depleted water slows to a trickle and then dries up.

Under normal circumstances, the system works well. However, because the design is reliant on the efficient running of the pump, the town is under constant threat of low pressure and ultimately a complete failure of supply. Each time the power is turned off, it is necessary to reset the pump manually.  That is why, with constant load-shedding, the water pressure in PB is woefully feeble for hours on end.

Apart from the inconvenience caused by Eskom’s unreliability, Pearly Beach faces a far mor serious threat. Fire. As we move into the dry season the likelihood of runaway bush fires increases, and if power lines are destroyed, as has happened in the past, we could be without electricity for an extended period. That would mean we would also be without water.

The solution to this very real problem is relatively simple. A standby generator should be installed at the pump station and should kick in automatically whenever the main power supply goes down.

This is a photograph of the 2018 fire that destroyed power lines and left Pearly Beach without electricity and water for more than 24 hours.

In December 2004 this fire came perilously close to houses in Broadway, and the residents of Eluxolweni had to be evacuated. It was only brought under control when, for the first time in Pearly Beach, helicopters were called upon to fight the blaze.

This is what it looks like today. The land bordering the town is infested with a sea of invasive alien trees. This vegetation burns a lot more fiercely than fynbos.  In the event of a fire being fanned by a strong wind from the east, Eluxolweni and the houses in Broadway would be threatened. And should the pump station be out of action, leaving the fire hydrants without water, the situation could turn disastrous.

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