Roodeplaat Dam

Roodeplaat Dam

Roodeplaat Dam wall in 2005, during an upgrade to the offtake structure.
Location of Roodeplaat Dam in South Africa
Official name Roodeplaat Dam
Country South Africa
Location Near Pretoria, Gauteng
Coordinates 25°37′15″S 28°22′17″E / 25.62083°S 28.37138°E / -25.62083; 28.37138Coordinates: 25°37′15″S 28°22′17″E / 25.62083°S 28.37138°E / -25.62083; 28.37138
Purpose Irrigation
Construction began 1955
Opening date 1959
Owner(s) Department of Water Affairs
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Arch dam
Impounds Pienaars River
Height 55 m
Length 351 m
Reservoir
Creates Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir
Total capacity 43 472 000 m3
Catchment area 684 km2
Surface area 403 ha

Roodeplaat Dam is a concrete arch dam situated in South Africa on the Pienaars River (also known along parts of its length as the Moretele River and Moreleta Spruit[1]), a tributary of the Crocodile River (Limpopo), which flows northwards into the Limpopo River. The dam is a warm monomictic impoundment with stable thermal stratification during the summer.[2]

Use

Roodeplaat Dam was originally an irrigation dam, and soon became popular for recreation. Later it became an important source for Magalies Water, a state-owned water board that supplies potable water to a large area north of Pretoria.[3] The hazard potential of the dam has been ranked high.[4] [5]

Water quality

Roodeplaat Dam's catchment contains a large part of the rapidly expanding : municipality of Tshwane, which includes Pretoria. Two sewage treatment works feed treated effluent to the dam, resulting in highly eutrophic conditions comparable with those experienced in Hartbeespoort Dam. These conditions were already apparent in the mid 1970s[2] and have not improved.[6] Consequences of eutrophication include blooms of algae and cyanobacteria, and dense mats of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).

The Department of Water Affairs' Resource Quality Information Services directorate is housed on the banks of Roodeplaat Dam, near the wall.[7] This section is responsible for national monitoring of the surface water resources of South Africa.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Adopt Moreletaspruit". http://www.riv.co.za/ms/. Adopt Moreletaspruit forum. 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-16. External link in |website= (help)
  2. 1 2 Walmsley RD, Toerien DF, Steyn DJ. An Introduction to the Limnology of Roodeplaat Dam. Journal of the Limnological Society of South Africa. 1978;4(1):35-52.
  3. ↑ Roodeplaat Dam, Pienaars River Government Water Scheme, Department of Water Affairs, 1989, Pretoria. 4pp.
  4. ↑ DWA (2014). "Legend: List of dams registered in terms of dam safety legislation" (PDF). http://www.dwa.gov.za/. Department of Water Affairs. Retrieved 2014-05-12. External link in |website= (help)
  5. ↑ DWA (2014). "Spreadsheet: List of dams registered in terms of dam safety legislation". http://www.dwa.gov.za/. Department of Water Affairs. Retrieved 2014-05-12. External link in |website= (help)
  6. ↑ Van Ginkel CE, Silberbauer MJ. Temporal trends in total phosphorus, temperature, oxygen, chlorophyll a and phytoplankton populations in Hartbeespoort Dam and Roodeplaat Dam, South Africa, between 1980 and 2000. African Journal of Aquatic Science 32. 2007;1:63-70.
  7. ↑ https://www.dwa.gov.za/iwqs/
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