THERE is some light at the end of the tunnel for an Eastmoor Crescent family after the municipality finally decided to extend a stormwater pipe which had caused them endless nightmares for the past six years. In February this year, Phyllis Opperman told Northglen News about a number of sewage spills outside their home because of a damaged stormwater pipe. Opperman has a stormwater drain which runs under her home and flushes excess water out into the sea.
However, in recent years, particularly in heavy downpours, raw sewage floods into the stormwater pipe, which is damaged and sometimes clogged with sand. The discharge then collects into a pool outside her home. The reason for the overflow is a defective sewage pump station.
That is about to change however, after the municipality’s stormwater department decided to extend the pipe away from the uMhlanga couple’s home and closer to the sea.
“We are just so grateful that something is finally being done and that the municipality did listen. We’ve had to live with this problem for the past six years and when there was an overflow the smell was just awful. It was especially embarrassing when we had guests over. We’re hoping that this will alleviate the sewage problems,” she said.
While uMhlanga ward councillor, Heinz de Boer, was pleased with the project, he added the municipality still had to fix the defective pump at Eastmoor Crescent sewage pump station.
“We do have a problem with several sewage pump stations along the coast. The city has more than 200 pump stations, about 50 have back-up generators. I’ve been told by engineers that all stations should have two pumps, but there is only one functioning at the one on Eastmoor Crescent,” De Boer said.
“This stormwater pipe is one of three on uMhlanga’s beachfront that is being extended. I’m glad they are carrying out the project, but the defective pump still has to be fixed or else the problem will persist. The municipality is well aware of the problem and hopefully a solution will be forthcoming.”
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