Mayor Patricia de Lille joined the aerial survey. Photos: Facebook

No need to be perturbed if you live near an aquifer and you see a helicopter flying overhead with something resembling a wagon wheel hanging from it. The helicopter is busy conducting a survey of the City’s aquifers and the ‘wagon wheel’ is a measuring device. The survey of the Atlantis-Silwerstroom aquifer has already been completed, says Mayor Patricia de Lille.

From July 2018 the Atlantis-Silwerstroom aquifer is set to contribute millions of litres of water daily to the City.

The refurbishment of boreholes and other infrastructure at the Atlantis-Silwerstroom Aquifer has already increased production by an additional five million litres of water per day. It is expected that the Atlantis-Silwerstroom Aquifers will bring an additional 25 million litres of water per day from July 2018. Additional water will be supplied by the Cape Flats Aquifer, and Table Mountain Group Aquifer (TMGA).

The Cape Flats Aquifer will bring an additional 25 million litres of water per day from June 2018. The City is also drilling abstraction boreholes in the Steenbras catchment area.

The yield from the first phase of the TMGA project is anticipated to be approximately 10 million litres per day that will be pumped into the Steenbras Dam. The yield from the other areas of the TMG aquifers such as the Helderberg, South Peninsula and Wemmershoek will be approximately 50 to 60 million litres per day.