Water provision For several years water provision was a thorny issue. As earlier reported, initially residents had to provide their own water; hence there were water wells on most plots. Chemical and bacteriological tests in 1912 showed that the water was so polluted that it was unfit for human consumption. Many *dysentery epidemics in town were attributed to that. The sanitary inspector described the condition of the wells in 1915 as follows: “This I found rarely deeper than 30 feet, and the coverings are very faulty; also the stands around the top are not properly cemented up, consequently dust, flies and mice have no difficulty in finding a way in, are probably discovered after a case of illness occurs…” The Town Council took it upon itself the responsibility of water supply. A water reticulation system was set up at a cost of ₤49-7-6. 52 Premises were connected to the system. Initially water was driven per scotch-cart drawn by oxen from the water supply points in town. Availability of electricity meant that the Council’s boreholes would be driven by a powerhead equipped with an electrical motor. The modern comfort, however, resulted that in any power failure; the Council’s water supply was affected. Water supply problems did however show its ugly face soon thereafter. To overcome this problem, the Town Council accepted the advice handed down, namely to dam Blesbokspruit. The decision led to the construction and completion in 1923, of the Old Bethal Town dam near Motel Christo. “The scarcity of water was felt severely and it happened that sometimes many families did not get water for many days and that when they eventually get water; that water was dark with dirt…Really something needed to be done very soon, otherwise we risked getting an epidemic of *enteric fever.” It was decided that a further dam needed to be built. The current dam was put in service during 1933. Its wall was totally rebuilt and increased in 1940, in order to serve as a water supplier for Bethal. Water purification was established at Bethal that served for 25 years until 25 December 1965 when Bethal decided to join Rand Water Board for the supply of purified water. The cost of joining, amounted to half million Rands, but this was in time, because in the year that followed; the dam that was supposed to supply Bethal with water, was completely empty. The water consumption has increased annually. In 1968/69 it was almost 700 000 kilolitres and 1978/79 1, 4 million kilolitres – an increase of 50%. As a result, the Town Council in the financial year of 1979/80 approved a scheme of R 3, 7 million which would see the supply of water from Rand Water Board expanded. Magriet Theunissen stands here on the wall of old Bethal Town dam. *enteritis fever is an illness which causes the stomach and bowels to become swollen and painful. *dysentery is a disease of the bowels which causes the contents to be passed out of the body much more often, and in a more liquid form than usual. It is caused by an infection which is spread by dirty water or food. 46
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