City unaware of waterway pollution at Goodies Dam

As pollutants continue threatening river health in Kempton Park, the CoE stated that it is unaware of several overflowing sewerage lines along the waterways leading to the Goodies Dam.

In the May 16 edition of the Kempton Express, we reported that Birchleigh resident Abraham de Bruyn believes the many contaminated waterways in the area are to blame for pollutants flowing into Goodies Dam.

De Bruyn said that as an avid walker, he is disgusted by the state of the waterways he passes. He added that all of the waterways lead to Goodies Dam.

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“I have found overflowing sewerage lines leaking contaminated water into almost all the waterways that lead to the dam,” he said.

De Bruyn took the Kempton Express on a tour of some areas most concerning to him.

“Further under the bridge are more black bags with other animal carcasses,” he said.

The light grey water flowing under the bridge smelt of sewerage, something De Bruyn said was a common occurrence along the rivers.

“It’s the same at all the other rivers – sewerage and rubbish.”

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Near the Birchleigh Train Station, De Bruyn showed the Kempton Express where he had found a large overflowing sewerage line.

“The raw sewerage flows out of this pipeline all the time. It flows straight into the waterway. When it rains, the entire area floods with raw effluent. This has gone on for years,” he said.

The spokesperson for the CoE, Zweli Dlamini, said that no call was logged in the system about the overflowing sewerage.

As such, he said the city was unaware of the several overflowing sewerage lines along the waterways leading to the Goodies Dam.

He added that the city did not do a full inspection of the Kempton Park waterways.

“The city does spot checks currently.”

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However, Dlamini said city officials were working on plans to rehabilitate the severely polluted waterway.

He said the city would use environmental practitioners for the contamination clearance.

According to Dlamini, there are many reasons why the sewerage lines in Kempton Park overflow.

“These include the dumping of foreign objects, illegal connections, broken pipes, tree roots, external contractors damaging the pipes, fat discharges from restaurants and rags.”

He said the city frequently inspected the sewerage lines near waterways and that plans are afoot to rehabilitate Goodies Dam.