Bospoort Dam is a gravity/earth-fill type dam on the
Hex River, a tributary of the
Elands River, part of the
Crocodile River (Limpopo)
, native_name_lang =
, name_other =
, name_etymology =
, image = Krokodilrivier, a, Phalandingwe.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Crocodile River at Pelindaba, North West
, map ...
basin. It is located near
Rustenburg,
North West,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Its primary purpose is for irrigation.
History
It was established in 1933. It was originally the main water supply for the town of Rustenburg. In the sixties it was no longer used for
drinking water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
due to contamination from
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
and
chrome mine
Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to:
Extraction or digging
* Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging
*Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine
Grammar
*Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun
...
s in the region. Due to water shortages in the nineties it was again used as the main water source for the
Boitekong and surrounding townships. The fish in the dam are not fit for human consumption. The water in the dam in so
corrosive that the steel sluices had to be replaced by a major rebuilding project in 2009 and 2010 for fear of the dam wall collapsing in a flood. The new dam structure was built from
corrosion resistant compounds.
Map of the dam and surrounding area
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See also
*List of reservoirs and dams in South Africa
The following is a partial list of dams in South Africa. __NOTOC__
In South African English (as well as Afrikaans), a dam refers to both the wall as well as the reservoir or lake that builds up as a consequence.
List of dams (reservoirs)
...
* List of rivers of South Africa
References
Dams in South Africa
Crocodile River (Limpopo)
Dams completed in 1933
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