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The dam has a catchment area of some 15 245 km² with a natural MAR of approximately 1210 million m³/a (1920 to 1987) and was completed in 1973. Its purpose was to supply water to the city of Bloemfontein via the 115 km long Caledon-Bloemfontein pipeline which has a capacity of ~1.157 m³/s. Due to siltation, the storage capacity of the Welbedacht Dam reduced rapidly from the original 115 million m³ to approximately 16 million m³ during the twenty years since completion. Due to the high sediment concentration in the water, the transfer from Welbedacht Dam is first purified at the Welbedacht Purification Plant which is located just downstream of the Dam. The purification plant has a capacity of 1.68 m³/s. Ref.1.