Vals River

In September 1973, Rautenbach, the Town Clerk of Kroonstad, and Vermeulen, then Deputy Town engineer, visited my office about that town’s water problem. They said that their weir on the Vals River was silting up and what could they do? I said to them that a small dam on a large river would under South African conditions always silt up. I suggested that they look for a tributary close to their weir, construct storage there and pump it full with Vals river water from their weir. My suggestion solved their problem. While planning for additional supplies for Bloemfontein from the Caledon River, we found a site for an off-channel reservoir on the Rietspruit (Knellpoort), to be pumped full from the river.