Bulk water is the largest part of what Unicon does and has been since the mid-nineties. Reservoirs, treatment works, pump stations and pipelines — the structures that have to hold, and keep holding, for fifty years.
The Discipline
A water-retaining structure is unforgiving in a way an office block is not. It either holds or it does not, the defect shows up years after the contractor has left, and the repair costs more than the original pour. That is why our teams are built around concrete discipline rather than programme heroics: mix design, placement, curing, joint detailing and testing are the whole job.
We work as a principal contractor to consulting engineers across KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, most often under the GCC suite for municipal and water board clients. Our people have poured circular and rectangular reservoirs, post-tensioned walls, dome roofs, contact tanks, clarifiers, filter beds and every chamber in between.
Scope Of Works
The scope below is work Unicon self-performs or directly controls on site. It is deliberately specific: a bill of quantities is priced line by line, and so is our capability.
Track Record
Straight from our project database, not a brochure. Contract values are shown as bands.
49
Projects delivered
1994–2024
Years active
20
Client organisations
31 months
Longest contract
| Year | Project | Client | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Tinley Manor WWTW (Club Med Resort) | Tinley Leisure (Pty) Ltd | R5–20M |
| 2018 | Mandlakazi Phase 5.1 Bulk Water Supply | Zululand District Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2016 | Thabazimbi 10ML Reservoir with Dome Roof | Anglo American | R5–20M |
| 2015 | Bhobhoyi Water Treatment Upgrade | UGU District Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2014 | Lower Tugela Secondary Bulk Water Supply Scheme | Umgeni Water Board | R5–20M |
| 2014 | Kearsney College WTW Upgrade (V.O – Construction of New Clearwater Reservoir) | Kearsney College | Under R5M |
| 2014 | Mason 10Meg Reservoir & Pipeline | Msunduzi Local Municipality | R20–50M |
| 2014 | Lynnfield WWTW upgrades | Umgeni Water Board/Msunduzi Local Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2013 | Stanger Road 2.5 Meg | uMzinyathi District Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2013 | EEM CWWS Phase 5 | uMgungundlovu District Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2012 | Lincoln Meade Sewer PS | Msunduzi Local Municipality | R5–20M |
| 2012 | Shorts Retreat Factory: Eco-Cycle Medical Waste Management Facility | Sirela Trading cc. | Under R5M |
Showing the twelve most recent of 49. The full database is searchable here.
Who We Build For
Method
Access, laydown, batching arrangements and survey control. On rural sites this includes water supply for the works itself, which is often the first thing we have to solve.
Excavation to founding level, inspection with the engineer, blinding and any founding improvement. Nothing is poured until the founding is signed off.
Base slab in panels with waterstops, then walls in lifts with purpose-made formwork. Mix design, placement rate, vibration and curing are controlled to the specification, not to the programme.
Tendon installation, stressing to the designed force with recorded elongations, and grouting. Stressing records form part of the handover pack.
Dome, flat or beam-and-slab roof, waterproofing, hatches, ladders, handrails, ventilation and level instrumentation.
Fill, stand and watertightness test against the specified drop, disinfection where potable, then wet commissioning with the client's operators present.
Capacity
We self-perform the work that carries the risk and subcontract the rest to an approved vendor list. What follows is the plant and capability this discipline draws on.
Contracting
Counts below are across the whole portfolio and come from the same database as the project record above.
Appointment Type
Contract Form
CIDB 7CE and 7GB. B-BBEE Level 2 contributor. Work is measured and constructed to the SANS 1200 and SANS 2001 series, with building work to SANS 10400.
Send us the drawings or the scope and we will come back with the engineer who would run the job, not a salesperson.