Ward 28 councillor, Malanie Haggard, has requested that the Department of Health visit the stream near the corner of Atlas Road and Nederberg Street, in Alphen Park, to determine the intensity of pollution flowing into Homestead Dam.
“The leak is coming from Atlas Road. I am just awaiting feedback on the progress of the repair,” Haggard said.
An official from the Department of Water and Sanitation said investigations are underway and any progress will be reported to Haggard.
Haggard added that the stream and the dam, which currently contain toilet paper, among other pollution particles, is used by fishermen, the yacht club and St Dunstan’s College rowers.
“It is also creating a terrible smell for residents who live near the stream,” she said.
Clr André du Plessis (Ward 23) recently took the City Times to what appears to be an open sewerage line in Brentwood Park.
The open pipe, which is situated in a field at the end of Road Three, just off Great North Road, has a constant flow of polluted water into the flora around it.
Du Plessis said the dirty water flows into the nearby wetland, which in turn traverses through Atlasville toward the Benoni lakes.
“From there water flows into the Blesbokspruit, which eventually ends up in the Vaal catchment area, where we get our drinking water,” du Plessis said.
The pipe was brought to du Plessis’s attention about six months ago by a local resident.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he discovered the open pipe when his telephone line went down.
“The telephone cables run through here (the field) and I know someone damaged the line before, when they worked here,” he said.
“When the line went down again, I came out here to investigate and found the open pipe.”
Du Plessis is worried about the dangers a constant flow of sewage might pose.
“This is detrimental to the environment and the community,” said du Plessis.
“I had senior officials here, showing them what’s going on, but nothing has been done, instead the pipe was covered with a bucket and left.”
The councillor said the metro needs to excavate the area and see where the pipe comes from, as it was, according to him, never connected to the municipal line.
“This is a cover up of a serious issue,” he added.
“The sanitation department must take responsibility; we want to know what the source is and why it was never connected to the main line.”
The metro had not responded to questions at the time of going to print.
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