Isandovale resident Steve Lupke-Read raised concerns about the deterioration of municipal infrastructure after a portion of his garden was filled with sewage last month.
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In July, Lupke-Read raised his concerns to Bedfordview and Edenvale News after sewage seeped through the ground and swamped his garden.
Lupke-Read said his garden was flooded for two weeks before the municipality responded and unblocked the blocked pipe.
He said in the past three months he has called on the municipality at least four times to unblock the pipes.
Lupke-Read was alerted to the health hazard in his garden when his nine-year-old son was playing outside one morning and informed him that they were water in the garden.
As the water was clear, Lupke-Read initially believed it to be fresh water and thought it was water leaking from one of his neighbours.
However, after further investigation, it was determined to be sewage.
Although his garden is no longer flooded, Lupke-Read believes it will occur again if a long-term solution is not implemented.
“According to my neighbours the sewerage problems have been a problem for more than 20 years,” said Lupke-Read.
Lupke-Read said he was told that the reason sewage is leaking out of the pipe is that tree roots have grown into the pipes and are now blocking them.
“When I asked the municipal team if they could use their equipment to remove the roots and cut them out, they explained that they could not as it would damage the pipes.
“When I asked about replacing the main sewerage line, I was told that there were not enough funds.”
To take matters into his own hands, Lupke-Read contacted a private plumbing business for assistance.
He was informed that because the infrastructure is municipal property it cannot be tampered with.
Lupke-Read said he was told that the best option was to remove any trees near the main sewage line to prevent their roots from growing into the pipes.
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Following this advice, Lupke-Read has done so and advised community members to follow suit.
A request for comment was sent to the city of Ekurhuleni on July 27 requesting comment by July 29 at 14:00.
At the time of going to print no comment was received.
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