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EARLY WATER SUPPLIES OF THE PENINSULA MUNICIPALITIES

Terence Timoney

Introduction

As far back as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Table Bay, or, as it was originally called,
Saldanha Bay (Antonio Da Saldanha having given it its name in 1503), was a place of call for

the supply of fresh water. In 1652 the Dutch East India Company established a victualling

station at the Cape. The importance of maintaining a good supply of fresh water for the
shipping was recognised and facilities introduced.

The main supply was a stream running down the front of the mountain called De Amstel, later
known as de Valsch, then finally the Platteklip. It was fed by various springs, the principal

one being the Stadtsfontein situated in the van Breda Estate at the top of town in Oranjezicht.

It was piped in wooden pipes made out of teak imported from Batavia, to various fountains in
the town allowing people to draw their water. One of the original pipes can be seen in the

Cultural History Museum.

Such, briefly, was the history of the water works in the town under the Dutch East India

Company up to the year 1795. When the first British Occupation took place the population

was 1400 people.

The Second British Occupation

At the time of the Second British Occupation in 1806, the population had increased and there

was a serious shortage of water causing much misery and illnesses among the inhabitants and
troops. It therefore became an urgent necessity to augment the supply of water. The home

government was approached in the matter and, on the recommendation of senior engineer Sir

John Rennie, a Mr John Chisholm was sent out to the Cape from England in 1811. He, with
the help of the then Governor of the Cape, the Earl of Caledon, replaced the wooden pipes

with cast iron pipes imported from England. Also, due to the wastage of water from the