The City of Cape Town unveiled a plaque on 25, March to celebrate the centenary of the Steenbras Lower Dam as it continues to serve the residents of Cape Town with clean, drinking water.
The Steenbras Lower Dam was the first major dam that was built by the City to meet the growing water demand in the early 1900s. According to the City, only a few minor dams situated on top of Table Mountain were built earlier than the Steenbras dam, and their capacity was not sufficient anymore.
“Since 1921, it has remained the main supply source to the Strand, Somerset West, Newlands, Molteno and Wynberg reservoirs, which serve certain areas from Gordons Bay in the East, to Wynberg in the South-West and as far North as the CBD.
“The Lower and Upper Steenbras dams contribute 7,5% of the total storage capacity of the six major storage dams in the Western Cape Water Supply System that supplies Cape Town,” the City said.
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According to the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien the dam will continue to play a contributing role in the Water and Sanitation Directorate’s journey to building future water supply as outlined in the City’s Water Strategy.
“This Strategy sets the course toward a future in which Cape Town has sufficient, reliable water from diverse sources so that we can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change. This water resilience strategy was developed as a result of the worst drought the City has experienced on record.
Badroodien went on to say, operations and asset management strategies are also being implemented to preserve the Steenbras Dam’s infrastructure for future years.
Some interesting facts about Steenbras Dam:
- The dam wall was raised twice since its original (1921) construction and now stands at a height of 27,5 m.
- The intake tower, valves and 750mm cast iron pipeline are still in their original state and are just as old as the original dam wall.
- There are two Steenbras Dams (Lower and Upper Dams). They have a combined storage volume of 65 290 Ml (1 Ml = 1 000 000 litres).
- The Lower Dam is the older dam and was built in 1921, whereas the Upper Dam was built in 1977
- The Steenbras Lower Dam has a slightly larger storage capacity of 33 520 Ml whereas the Steenbras Upper Dam has a storage capacity of 31 770 Ml.
- In rainy conditions, when the Steenbras Upper Dam is 100% full, the water overflows into the Lower Dam.
- When the Upper Dam is not full, there is also a connecting pipe (1,22m diameter) with isolation valves from the Upper to Lower Dam, which allows water transfer to take place.
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Picture: Supplied