WHEN a Mtubatuba business owner employed the services of a private drilling company to drop a borehole on his property in Mtubatuba’s CBD, nobody had any idea what he was tapping into.
‘We hit an underground fountain and first struck water at 72 metres,’ said Herman le Roux, Manager at Drilling Africa.
‘After pushing further, we struck water again at 93 metres, which is when it started gushing out at full force.’
The drillers left the hole at a depth of 100 metres to ensure ample water provision.
‘This is a very good depth for this area and the water quality is very good,’ said Le Roux.
‘This borehole will supply water for years to come.’
Pumping at a rate of 220 000 litres per hour (38 litres per second), Le Roux said the borehole can, hypothetically speaking, easily supply water to at least the Mtubatuba
CBD, freeing up existing municipal water sources for other areas.
Discussions may soon be underway for the municipality to tap into the borehole for the town’s use.
East London-based Drilling Africa has been in the Mtubatuba area for the past two months after being contracted under the government’s disaster relief programme to drill 300 holes in the Somkhele area.
Read more about the Zululand drought HERE
