South Africa's water infrastructure projects name the equipment suppliers will sell into. The second half of the Infrastructure South Africa water list specifies steel main from DN600 to DN1600, solid bowl centrifuge decanters, a 1 250kVA standby generator and a new SCADA system. Most of it is in eThekwini, and some of it is already at construction stage.
The source is the ISA Construction Book, Edition 3, which lists 18 water projects worth about R35 billion. Plumbing Africa summarised it in two parts: Part 1 covered nine projects, and Part 2, published on 7 October, covered the other nine. Part 2 is the half with the bill of materials in it.
What the nine projects buy
| Project | Sponsor | Stage | Planned procurement | What a supplier would sell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern aqueduct | eThekwini | Construction | Q2 FY2026/27 | Steel watermain DN600 to DN1600, valves, chambers, road reinstatement |
| Hammarsdale WTW upgrade | eThekwini | Construction | Q4 FY2025/26 | Screens, grit removal, pumps, centrifuge decanters, poly plant, MV upgrade, LV switchboards, 1 250kVA generator, SCADA |
| Northern WWTW | eThekwini | Construction | Q2 FY2026/27 | Repair parts for 70Mℓ/d, sludge handling, then design to 120Mℓ/d |
| TMG Aquifer: Nuweberg | Cape Town | Procurement | Q1 FY2026/27 | Not described |
| TMG Aquifer: Pre-Treatment | Cape Town | Procurement | Q3 FY2026/27 | Not described |
| TMG Aquifer: Groenlande | Cape Town | Procurement | Q3 FY2026/27 | Not described |
| Lourens River flood alleviation phase 2 | Cape Town | Feasibility | Q1 FY2027/28 | River and flood works, not itemised |
| Non-revenue water performance-based contracts | City of Joburg | Feasibility | Q2 FY2027/28 | Pipe for about 1 273km of replacement |
| Water re-use and reclamation | City of Joburg | Feasibility | Q4 FY2027/28 | Not described |
Cape Town's three aquifer packages are listed by name only. Plumbing Africa's summary gives no scope for Nuweberg, Pre-Treatment or Groenlande, so a supplier has nothing to read yet beyond the stage and the quarter.
The steel main, package by package
The Southern aqueduct is the only project in the list with a pipe size breakdown. In Plumbing Africa's summary of the ISA book, the scope is steel watermain in five diameters:
- DN600: about 5km.
- DN1000: about 8km.
- DN1200: about 7km.
- DN1400: about 6km.
- DN1600: about 3.5km.
That adds up to roughly 29.5km, before valves and chamber structures. The sources disagree here: eThekwini describes the project as a 24km bulk pipeline, as SAnews reported in September 2026. On the summary's figures, the largest share by length is in the middle sizes, DN1000 and DN1200, which together make up about half the total. The scope also includes connecting the new main to the existing DN1000 line and removing the old 975D and 825D prestressed concrete pipe. It is split into eight work packages.
Eight packages is the detail that matters to a pipe or valve maker, but most of them are already let. In September 2026 eThekwini said work packages 1 and 3 were completed and commissioned, a section of package 2 had been commissioned, and packages 4, 5 and 6 were still under construction. We found nothing published on where packages 7 and 8 stand, although in June 2026 the mayor said he expected the R1.2 billion project to be finished by December 2026, SAnews reported. A supplier coming to this job now is selling to the contractors already on site, or asking eThekwini about the last two packages.
Which water infrastructure project buys what you make?
Hammarsdale is the clearest answer for a mechanical or electrical brand. The scope names a new 27Mℓ/d inlet works with mechanical screenings and grit removal, and a new raw sewage pump station. It adds sludge dewatering by solid bowl centrifuge decanters with a poly make-up plant, and replacement of all mechanical equipment in six BardenPho bioreactors.
The electrical side is just as specific. It calls for a plant-wide medium voltage upgrade with a new 1 250kVA standby generator, new low voltage switchboards and controls, and an instrumentation and automation upgrade with a new SCADA facility. Few public scopes itemise this much.
The main contract is already let. eThekwini introduced the Stefanutti Stocks-WPCP joint venture as the contractor in February 2024, Rising Sun reported. A report to the city's executive committee in June 2025 put the contract at about R260 million, up from an original R200 million. Completion had moved to November 2026 after repeated extensions, according to the Cape Argus. A supplier with something on this list is selling to that joint venture, and late in its programme.
The Northern WWTW is a repair job first. Its two streams, of 20Mℓ/d and 50Mℓ/d, are to be brought back to their full 70Mℓ/d. The design work then takes the plant to 120Mℓ/d with two 50Mℓ/d plants and the augmented 20Mℓ/d stream. That second step is where specification will be written.
The repair half is already under contract. In 2024 the city said the contractor had started work on a R500 million project due for completion in 2027, the Citizen reported. We found nothing published saying whether the design work for 120Mℓ/d sits in that contract or a later one.
Who to talk to, by stage
Stage tells a brand who holds the pen. At feasibility, the specification does not exist yet, and the consulting engineer drafting it is the person to reach. That is Joburg's two projects and the Lourens River.
At procurement, the specification is largely set, and the question is whether your product is named or allowed as an equal. That is the three Cape Town aquifer packages. We set out what a specification is worth once it reaches a municipal tender in what your spec is worth in a municipal tender.
At construction, a contractor is buying, and that contractor's procurement team is the door. That is the three eThekwini projects. A contractor already on site is pricing against a programme, and a supplier who can deliver to that programme has an argument a catalogue cannot make.
We traced the same pattern through a single large build in 150MW of data centre, and which trades it buys. The brand that reaches the installer before the order is placed is the one that gets specified.
Joburg's projects deserve a note of their own, because they are on home ground for a Gauteng supplier. Both are at feasibility, and both are planned for procurement in FY2027/28. That is far enough out that nothing is specified yet, and close enough that the design work has to start soon.
Arabella Infrastructure Solutions is a Johannesburg-based building maintenance and construction company that connects brands with the verified installers who price this kind of package. For a valve, pump or switchgear maker, that is a route to the people who place the order. The brands page sets out how that works.
On Monday
Take the table above and mark every row where you make something on the list. For each construction-stage row, find out which contractor holds the work and who runs its buying. For each feasibility row, find the consulting engineer. Those are two different calls, and most brands only make the second one.
