Chairman of the Deneysville Ratepayers Association Glen McCarroll is seen at one of the sewage streams that eventually flows into the Vaal Dam, 19 September 2022. The dam is a major water source in South Africa and the Metsimaholo Municipality claims the issue is about to be remedied, but the Deneysville residents have little faith. Picture: Michel Bega
Residents of Deneysville have raised concerns about the sewage spillage to the Vaal Dam allegedly caused by an over-capacitated Water Waste Treatment Works (WWTW) which comes from the surrounding towns.
They claimed the spillage has been happening since 2015, and the department of water and sanitation (DWS) and their local municipality have done nothing to eradicate the problem.
The pollution of the dam has raised concerns to Gauteng residents as their water supply comes from it. Residents are also concerned that little, or no, attention has been given to the impact of sewage pollution on the Vaal Dam.
Glen McCarroll, chair of the Deneysville Ratepayers Association, said the issue was not only the smell but there were visible faeces from the dam, which is sometimes stuck in front of their properties.
He said there was a flagrant lack of care by their local municipality dumping raw sewage into the drinking water of over 16 million Gauteng residents.
“The municipality informed us that this was a temporary situation, which will be resolved by the end of December when they commission the brand new six megalitre-a-day WWTW they are currently building.
Unfortunately, we do not believe the municipality can manage this state-of-the-art plant,” he said.
“Design of the WWTW was started in 2010, because the existing plant was failing due to lack of maintenance, which resulted in the municipality constantly diverting the sewage into the Vaal Dam and the surrounding water sources.”
McCarroll said the municipality was planning to put an effluent pipe into what the residents call the “Ratepayers Bay”.
“The water draw-off point for the whole of Gauteng is in Ratepayers Bay. This, for us, raises a lot of concerns and what they are doing is morally wrong.
We are objecting to them putting it there because it will pollute the water.” A resident and restaurant owner, Kathy Manten, said they had a big problem with bluegreen algae near the eatery.
She said her restaurant is on the edge of the water and when the blue-green algae starts rotting, it stinks and people do not want to sit down and have a meal.
”The primary businesses in Deneysville are tourism and B&B accommodation. Fishermen, recreational fishermen, people coming to picnic for the day, are all affected by this.
“At the beginning of the year, a Labrador was playing in the water and died within 24 hours because of terrible toxicity, which affected his liver.
The water is poisonous; it can burn your skin and very dangerous for people to swim in.” Manten said the pipeline they are planning to put in the Ratepayers Bay will not work, as the bay does not have a natural water flow.
The DWS had not commented by the time of going to print.
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