Roodeplaat Dam
title: "Roodeplaat Dam" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["crocodile-river-(limpopo)", "dams-in-gauteng", "dams-completed-in-1959"] topic_path: "general/crocodile-river-limpopo" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roodeplaat_Dam" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox dam"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Roodeplaat Dam |
| image | Roodeplaat Dam wall DSC00130.JPG |
| image_caption | Roodeplaat Dam wall in 2005, during an upgrade to the offtake structure. |
| name_official | Roodeplaat Dam |
| dam_crosses | Pienaars River |
| res_name | Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir |
| location | Near Pretoria, Gauteng |
| country | South Africa |
| owner | Department of Water Affairs |
| dam_length | 351 m |
| dam_height | 55 m |
| dam_type | A |
| purpose | Irrigation |
| res_capacity_total | 43 472 000 m3 |
| res_catchment | 684 km2 |
| res_surface | 403 ha |
| construction_began | 1955 |
| opening | 1959 |
| coordinates | |
| location_map | South Africa |
| :: |
| name = Roodeplaat Dam | image = Roodeplaat Dam wall DSC00130.JPG | image_caption = Roodeplaat Dam wall in 2005, during an upgrade to the offtake structure. | name_official = Roodeplaat Dam | dam_crosses = Pienaars River | res_name = Roodeplaat Dam Reservoir | location = Near Pretoria, Gauteng | country = South Africa | owner = Department of Water Affairs | dam_length = 351 m | dam_height = 55 m | dam_type = A | purpose = Irrigation | dam_width_base = | res_capacity_total = 43 472 000 m3 | res_catchment = 684 km2 | res_surface = 403 ha | construction_began = 1955 | opening = 1959 | coordinates = | location_map = South Africa
Roodeplaat Dam is a concrete arch dam situated in South Africa on the Pienaars River (also known along parts of its length as the Moretele River and Moreleta Spruit | url = http://www.riv.co.za/ms/ | title = Adopt Moreletaspruit | date = 2014 | website = www.riv.co.za | publisher = Adopt Moreletaspruit forum | accessdate = 2014-05-16 a tributary of the Crocodile River, which flows northwards into the Limpopo River. The dam is a warm monomictic impoundment with stable thermal stratification during the summer.
Use
Roodeplaat Dam was originally an irrigation dam, and soon became popular for recreation. Later it became an important source for Magalies Water, a state-owned water board that supplies potable water to a large area north of Pretoria. The hazard potential of the dam has been ranked high.{{cite web |url = http://www.dwa.gov.za/DSO/Documents/ExplanationAndLegendForListOfRegisteredDams.pdf |title = Legend: List of dams registered in terms of dam safety legislation |last = DWA |date = 2014 |website = dwa.gov.za/ |publisher = Department of Water Affairs |accessdate = 2014-05-12 |archive-date = 2014-05-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512225900/http://www.dwa.gov.za/DSO/Documents/ExplanationAndLegendForListOfRegisteredDams.pdf |url-status = dead | url = http://www.dwaf.gov.za/DSO/Documents/List%20of%20Registered%20Dams%20Jan%202014.xls | title = Spreadsheet: List of dams registered in terms of dam safety legislation | last = DWA | date = 2014 |website=dwa.gov.za/ | publisher = Department of Water Affairs | accessdate = 2014-05-12
Water quality
Roodeplaat Dam's catchment contains a large part of the rapidly expanding municipality of Tshwane, which includes Pretoria. Two sewage treatment works feed treated effluent to the dam, resulting in highly eutrophic conditions comparable with those experienced in Hartbeespoort Dam. These conditions were already apparent in the mid-1970s and have not improved. Consequences of eutrophication include blooms of algae and cyanobacteria, and dense mats of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes).
The Department of Water Affairs' Resource Quality Information Services directorate is housed on the banks of Roodeplaat Dam, near the wall. This section is responsible for national monitoring of the surface water resources of South Africa. File:Roodeplaat Dam Water Hyacinth from watertower DSCN4904.JPG| File:Roodeplaat Dam-Water Hyacinths-02.jpg|
References
References
- Walmsley RD, Toerien DF, Steyn DJ. An Introduction to the Limnology of Roodeplaat Dam. Journal of the Limnological Society of South Africa. 1978;4(1):35–52.
- Roodeplaat Dam, Pienaars River Government Water Scheme, Department of Water Affairs, 1989, Pretoria. 4pp.
- Van Ginkel, Carin. (2019-03-03). "Kryptic Environment".
- "RQS".
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