Jeanette Blair (70) is tired of calling Johannesburg Water (JW) every three weeks to get them to repair the old sewerage pipe which constantly blocks and spills sewage outside her property into the Cedar Park in President Ridge.
She complained that the sewerage pipe constantly blocks which results in a horrible stench.
According to Blair, the City’s water and sewerage pipes run underneath her property. Over the recent years, the pipe constantly blocks and there are at least three manholes within her property and two more outside, which then overflows.
This problem escalated when two of the manhole leads spilled sewage into the park nearby. It took more than three days for JW to repair the pipe.
“The sewage was bubbling here,” she said referring to the manhole leads.
“I think the pipe is old and should be replaced. I’ve asked the City Council several times and I was told that there is no money,” she said.
She concluded that she recently fell into a trench and was badly hurt when she was investigating what could have transpired.
Ward 102 Councillor David Potter said Joburg Water Randburg Depot should address this long-term problem.
“My office has made contact with the responsible manager at the [Johannesburg Water johannesburgwater.co.za] Randburg Depot. Further to the repair of the sewerage line issue, the park needs to be sanitised urgently – something that JW often forgets to do,” he said.
JW external communications officer, Eleanor Mavimbela, said there were no reported blockages of this nature in the past two years.
“According to the system, we had one complaint logged on the system from January 2016 where the depot actually cleared the blockage,” she said.
She further explained that it was discovered that a section of the pipe collapsed and the excavation work was done on 10 June.
She denied the constant blockages. “It was discovered that the sewerage pipe has collapsed. This is the reason for the blockage now. The GIS pictures also reveal that there are several trees planted above the sewerage main, which could be the cause of the root infiltration into the sewerage system,” she concluded.
Details: Joburg Water, 011 688 1400; Ward 102 Councillor David Potter, david@oursuburb.co.za.
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