A sewage saga
Residents are disgusted by the lack of urgency of Johannesburg Water to fix sewage pipes.
Blocked sewerage pipes have led to the flooding of a Windsor resident’s yard.
According to Ronel Opperman, for the past 19 years she has had a problem with sewerage pipes bursting and flooding her drains. “The storm water pushes the sewage up and because my house is at the bottom of the street, all the water flows down to my house and pushes up into my drain,” she said. “All kinds of things come out from the drain, including foetuses and sanitary towels.”
Ward 98 councillor Laurette van Zijl said the reason the sewerage pipes burst was because the pipes were old and could not withstand the pressure of the storm water. “The other reason why the pipes burst may be because of overcrowding,” she said. “Since the sewerage pipes were built a lot more people have moved into Windsor, the old pipes are therefore unable to hold all the sewage.”
Opperman has complained to Johannesburg Water numerous times and all they did was clean up the sewage. “I was told they could not replace the pipes because they simply do not have the budget for that,” said Opperman.
Joburg Water spokesperson Millicent Kabwe had not responded to the matter at the time of going to print.
Details: Ward 98 councillor Laurette van Zijl 082 330 0593.
