Six new boreholes have been drilled by the Makhado Municipality in an effort to alleviate Makhado’s (Louis Trichardt) on-going water crisis.

The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), the water authority for the area, described the new boreholes as “an intervention to improve water services in Makhado Town.”

The water service provider, namely the Makhado Municipality, said that it was too early to say how the new boreholes would improve the water situation. “This can only be confirmed after the tests. We are hopeful that the boreholes will relieve the pressure for water in town,” said Makhado communication officer Mr Peter Muthambi.

The borehole inside the municipal lapa's premises, across from Bridge Motors, has a blow yield of 30 litres per second. The blow yield gives an indication of the rate at which groundwater can be extracted from a borehole. 

At the municipal caravan park, another new borehole has a blow yield of 20 litres per second. The one at the corner of Krogh and Jeppe Street has a blow yield of 13 litres per second and the borehole in Pretorius Street has one of 0.831 litres per second.

“At the borehole on the corner of Ruh and President Street, blow yield tests could not be conducted because there is a lot of water. At the borehole on the corner of De la Rey and President Steyn Street, visual inspection shows that there is a lot of water. However, odexing (a borehole casing system) still needs to be done because the soil there is too loose,” said Muthambi. Three contractors were appointed to provide the services and each drilled two boreholes.

Muthambi said that a service provider would be appointed before the end of the week to conduct yield tests and water quality tests that will determine whether the water is fit for human consumption. “None of the boreholes is near a sewage spillage,” Muthambi said. He added that the water from the boreholes would initially be pumped directly into the water supply system. DA councillor Brian du Plooy confirmed this, saying that, at the moment, most of the water in the different areas was being pumped directly into the reticulation system because the reservoirs did not fill up fast enough.