The Atlasville Organisation has also dismissed the response from the metro that the blocked sewage line that has allegedly been causing the contamination was only reported to the metro’s depot on September 4.
Shaine Bailey from the organisation says he has paper trail to prove the metro wrong.
“I have personally been involved with this. In fact, we have proof that we communicated with both the Boksburg and Benoni Customer Service Managers,” says Bailey.
Independent tests conducted by Scrooby’s Laboratory Service have refuted the findings of the metro.
John Scrooby from the lab says samples of the run-off water from the burm (Vlei and Bird Sanctuary) and the inlet at the junction of Gompou and Star Streets, were taken and sent to Michrochem Laboratories.
“The stench from the vlei and spruit inlets whilst taking the samples was something to behold.
“The findings show totals in excess of greater than 15 000 colony-forming units (cfu’s) for the E Coliforms and Faecal Coliforms. Normally this figure should not exceed about 20 cfu’s. This is an indication of raw sewerage,” explains Scrooby.
Scrooby points out that although the sewerage department has since unblocked the drains, the problem will reoccur as the root cause has not been addressed.
“The sewerage system was designed more than 30 years ago when there were only three complexes in the area. “New complexes are being built in Venus and Brentwood streets and there is no sign that the sewerage line capacity is going to be increased. This should have been addressed at the planning stage before development plans were passed,” he adds. – @TumeloBoksburg
