Delta Park Users Group leader Shirley Tebbutt and her team are hard at work at the Florence Bloom Dam in Delta Park, clearing out the water hyacinth that has completely taken over the dam.
There is visible progress already, with them having cleared half of the dam already. They started on June 11, removing the hyacinth using two canoes and five men. The men are bringing in a full canoe load every 10 minutes, so they are working hard, dragging the shade cloths, fully laden with hyacinth, into the sun to dry out the flowers.
Tebbutt explained that they have added a third canoe and sixth man to try and speed up the process.
She added that, since they started, most days they have visitors of about 15 yellow-billed ducks, two African black ducks, and some Egyptian Geese, that swim around the canoes in the dam.
“The men couldn’t work any harder. We are much further on since we started.”
However, Tebbutt is concerned about the sewer leak below the Environmental Centre at Delta Park, which could disturb their progress and hard work. She said that, if the leak reaches the dam, they will have no choice but to abandon the hyacinth clearing.
“It started on June 17. I have contacted City Parks and Joburg properties – no luck. They are not allowed to go and fix it. It has to be [Johannesburg] water and sewerage, and it is all so frustrating.”
The threat of the latest sewerage leak hasn’t reached the dam, and the team is hoping that it will be fixed before it does.
Questions were sent to Johannesburg Water about the issue, but no response had been forthcoming by the time of going to print. However, it will be published once made available.
Explaining the methods and techniques they are using to clean the dam, Tebbutt explained that three canoes go out, which are then loaded with hyacinth. They are then pulled in with a rope. Once at the landing area, two men unloaded the hyacinth onto large pieces of shade cloth. Two more men then drag these very heavy shade clothes onto the grassy area for the flowers to dry out.
“The only thing that can prevent the continual clean-up is a sewage leak. We are now on the third level of drying hyacinth. A canoe comes in about every seven minutes, so the process is non-stop. Once the dam is clear, it will be maintained weekly, and then monthly – like the top dam is, and that has been clear since 2005.”
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