Blood in the water?

Pump stations in Sakhile have been out of order since September and sewage from the industrial area, as well as blood from a local abattoir, are overflowing straight into the Vaal River.

We all strive for that Colgate smile, but do we know how clean the water is that we use to rinse our mouths with?

The Standerton Advertiser visited the pump station in question with the Chief Water Control Officer for the upper Vaal at the Department of Water Affairs.

According to an operator at the station the broken pumps have been reported to the Lekwa Municipality and he was told that contractors have been appointed to fix the pumps, but nobody has been there to assess the issue.

Raw sewage and the bloody waste from the abattoir, the smell being unbearable, have been flowing through the station directly past the broken pumps and into the river.

“One must note that the water we drink has nothing to with this process, our water comes from a pump station at the top end of the golf course at a different purification plant, which is in working order,” Mr Pierre Schnetler, ward councillor, said.

“The smell and taste of our drinking water come down to bad management, the purification plant that treats our drinking water is monitored by the Rand Water Board.

“The main issue at the moment is leaks that are occurring due to old pipes in the system, that is why we are having water cuts, the municipality is fixing the leaks in the system.”

Read the Editor’s view on this here

Get your copy of the Standerton Advertiser today to read about the findings made at the water treatment plant.

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