SINCE the Highway Mail’s initial report on the dire situation at the Hillcrest Wastewater Treatment Works, there is still raw sewage pumped daily into the Umhlatuzana River.
A former engineer at the works and a member of the Giba Gorge Environmental Precinct, Denzil Bazley, made a follow up site visit last Friday.
He noted that two of the aerators were now operational but the sludge drying plant was not.
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“The sewage leaving the works is brown. There is raw fat and sewage accumulating in the river. No amount of chlorination, which appears to be non-functional anyway, can mitigate this health hazard.
“The final effluent tank has high levels of floating raw sewage and fat, which is being skimmed and dumped on a drying bed. This is a completely unacceptable practice,” said Bazley.
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He noted that the sludge drying plant has not been in operation since August 2017.
“Raw sewage is flowing through Giba Gorge and the communities downstream, and we urge the municipality to attend to the restoration and maintenance of the works as an urgent priority.
“We hear there is no budget, however, since Hillcrest ratepayers pay specific amounts for the treatment of their sewage, this argument is fallacious. This situation is critical, in which case emergency funding should be procured, and contractors appointed.”
Until the situation is rectified, the community will take effluent water samples, have them tested at an accredited test laboratory and report the findings to the city’s manager and the relevant government authorities.
The eThekwini Municipality has not yet responded to the initial request for comment when the story first appeared in the 5 October issue of Highway Mail.
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