The drinking water supply capacity of La Gogue in the Seychelles will increase with the reactivation of its dam. According to Erna Victor, the manager of the drinking water project at the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), the dam will be re-commissioned in year 2022, 2 years later than the planned deadline of June 2020. Erna Victor also reported that the work is already 97 per cent complete.
The PUC has entrusted the modernization of the homogeneous earthen embankment dam to Sinohydro. At this stage, the Chinese company has raised the dam of the water reservoir by 6 m with an artificial waterproofing system, which consists of a polyvinyl chloride membrane anchored in a trench dug in the existing core. “The only remaining work is being done at the south saddle dam, while piling work is expected to begin on the right abutment to address seepage through the main dam structure,” explains Erna Victor. The additional work underway is expected to cost about USD 7 million, financed through a loan from the AfDB. This funding is in addition to the USD 13 million already committed to the project.
The 35-meter high dam will again store its 1st m3 of fresh water in early 2023, with an expected capacity of 1.6 million m3 to supply thousands of Seychellois, compared to 600,000 m3 before the work.
The water pumped from the La Gogue dam reservoir will be treated before distribution to households. The future drinking water plant will be built downstream of the dam. The PUC estimates that the plant will have a production capacity of 4,400 m3 of drinking water per day when it is commissioned. The plant will be used to supply drinking water to Mahe, the largest island in the Seychelles archipelago.
