Boksburg Lake: it is time for residents to take matters into their own hands

Fox was, for a long time, part of the Boksburg Lake Forum, which consisted of concerned members of the public, looking to work with the Ekurhuleni Metro to find viable solutions to help rehabilitate the lake.

The forum has since disbanded, with members citing a lack of cooperation from the metro as a reason for throwing in the towel.

Fox, however, has not given up, remaining adamant that there is plenty of expertise that can be roped in to rehabilitate the lake, even if it means seeking private funding, therefore bypassing the metro.

According to him, the lake has deteriorated with each passing year.

Recently, dozens of decomposing fish were found along the banks, apparently having died because of a lack of oxygen.

“The latest budget allocation put forward by the Ekurhuleni Metro for the lake is R1-million, which will hardly pay for the upkeep of the grounds, let alone any remediation,”said Fox.

“The lake is not a priority for Ekurhuleni local government, despite this being under their noses.”

Fox, who is a Rotarian, believes that, with the assistance of Rotary, the community project to clean Boksburg Lake can be funded.

“The Rotary Foundations has six pillars, one of which is providing clean water and sanitation; Rotary is, therefore, keen to assist,” he said.

“By tackling this clean-up with the help of Rotary we will make sure this effort remains apolitical, a-denominational and has nothing to do with promoting anyone’s interests, other than the community of Boksburg and Ekurhuleni.”

One of the experts he has roped in is Rod Genricks, director of Turncard Trading, who insists that he has the blueprint to save the lake.

Despite having been involved in the remediation of many other dams and lakes throughout the country, Genricks said that the metro has not approached him or sought his help in this matter.

Several years ago he submitted a proposal on how to remediate the lake, which at the time carried the backing of the then Boksburg Lake Forum.

According to this proposal, the lake’s toxic water needs to be first properly treated before the dredging machine, acquired by the metro years ago, can be deployed to remove the sludge.

Genricks said the treatment, using Eco Tabs, will cost the metro around R7-m.

Once this has been done, the metro can then start removing the excessive sand, possibly relocating it to form an island in the middle of the dam.

“We have two problems in Boksburg. One is the excessive sewage that is pouring into the water because of sewerage plants running beyond their capacity, and, secondly, the sand that has been deposited into the water over the years because of mining,” Genricks explained.

“To treat the dam demands a two-fold approach: one is treating the water, and the other is to remove the silt and sand.

“The state of our water in general in this country is a huge cause of concern. Let us take, for example, our sewerage plants, which are being overloaded in terms of work, because of a lack of upgrading,” he said.

“What happens is that any sewerage plant, over time, needs to process more raw sewage because of growing housing and business developments. In the scenario in Boksburg, the sewerage plant is running beyond its capacity, so it is pumping polluted water back into the streams and rivers.

“This has a knock-on effect, because rivers are connected. As rivers connect, the pollution is spreading, and further impacting crops up.

“There are, however, ways and means of dealing with toxic and polluted water. Chlorine is also not the answer, because it doesn’t deal with the E-coli problem.”

“With the right approach and the right support, bodies of water that are critical can be brought back to life, which is also the case with the Boksburg Lake.

“Once the Boksburg Lake is remediated, it will not cost a lot to maintain. If we treat this lake properly, then complete restoration of the phosphate cycle of the dam will occur quickly.”

According to Genricks, the metro should be careful not to go the same route as taken at Bruma Lake, where the wall was dropped and the lake drained.

He said this has caused a mess with a R65-m price tag.

According to him, maintenance consisting of monthly inlet management of water entering the lake from the drainage canals will ensure that the lake never ends up in this state again.

“This can be achieved through treating grease traps and lift pumps to cut down effluent reaching the sewerage works,” he said.

Fox is now planning to convene a committee to kick-start the project.

He also asked what has happened to the metro’s proposed silt trap and the R14-m which was budgeted for it.

“I was told that a contractor had been appointed to build the silt trap, but so far we have seen no spending of such money, and thus no silt trap,” he said.

“Question is: did someone walk off with the money, or has it been misappropriated by officials in the name of the contractor? If we found the R14m we could start remediation immediately.”

Fox, however, also stressed that, once the lake is remediated, the entire environment surrounding the body of water should be given attention, which includes demolishing the building in Market Street that has become a home for vagrants and criminals.

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