Road sewage spills pose health hazard

Taylor said over the last six months, he noticed a strange smell near his house.

“I would smell this same smell on my way to work on my motorcycle but in completely the opposite direction,” he said.

One day, what he thought was spilled tar, led him to Northern Water Works, close to Diepsloot. Here, he saw waste pumped into trucks and carted off.

“These trucks are either overfilled or have leaking tailgates and end up dropping large quantities of waste on the road,” explained Taylor.

Taylor enquired about the matter, and corresponded with Aqua Group, the company transporting the waste in tankards.

The health hazard led him to receive a letter from Aqua Group.

In the letter, Aqua Group apologised about the waste spillage, and that action was taken on their side to deal with the people responsible for these incidents.

“I also started to ask the question of whether the solid waste was safe to transport, from a health point of view. My understanding is that it should be properly dried before being transported as it posed a health risk when wet,” Taylor said.

The problem seems to have stopped, but Joburg Water has also been questioned on why the sewage was transported, and how often trucks are inspected.

After a week, Joburg Water was still compiling answers regarding the situation.