POLOKWANE – Polokwane Municipality, during a special council meeting on Tuesday, tabled the proposal and a report to inform the council on the current status of the waste water treatment plants.
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The report stated the city’s wastewater treatment works’ design capacity is 27,8 Ml/day, but it is currently operating at 34 Ml/day. In Seshego the waste water treatment plant, designed to accommodate 7,6 Ml /day, is operating at 10 Ml/day. Only the Mankweng plant, designed to handle a capacity of 8 Ml/day, is running below capacity at 6,5 Ml/day.
During the report, recommendations were made to enhance performance of the plants to comply with a discharge licence for waste water and Green Drop performance.
This refurbishment will bring relief to residents from surrounding areas and living adjacent to the Sand River who have complained about the unbearable stench and polluted water for the past decade.
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Review has reported on the matter several times as well, being sent from pillar to post regarding the reason behind the stench causing concerns.
The report stated the rapid growth of Polokwane impacted on the capacity of the treatment plants and affected the proper operations of the plant.
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The over-capacitation of the two major plants was impacting negatively on the community, with a wide-reaching stench emanating from the effluent, affecting nearby businesses in Ladine and Ladanna, and effluent being discharged into rivers not complying with required standards.
The waste water works consist of old and outdated technology and it cannot meet the effluent standards. A number of operational issues need urgent attention to ensure the operational states of the plants revert to the original designed state. The maintenance backlog further resulted in the degradation of equipment and structures. According to the report submitted to the municipality, operation and maintenance training for operational staff were urgently required.
It is hoped the refurbishment of the plants will address treatment issues until the building of a new regional waste water treatment plant, which has been in the pipeline for many years already.
The cost is enormous, but associated with cost in the context of building a new treatment plant, which currently is around R15 million for each megalitre treated, the amount would only cover the cost of a plant that could treat 3 Ml/day. The repair cost, according to the report tabled, will ensure 33,8 Ml/day for a period of 10 to 15 years, giving enough time for the municipality to secure funding for future expansion of the plant.
