Sewage is a problem in Bronkhorstspruit
The sewage is flowing from all over Bronkhorstspruit into the river that supplies water for Bronkhorstspruit and surrounding areas.
Sewage flows from all over Bronkhorstspruit into the Bronkhorstspruit River, 500m from where the raw water is pumped from the water treatment plant for drinking water.
Jan de Klerk, a resident from Versterpark, said the sewage flows into the river from Riamarpark onto the golf course, from Cultura Park via Versterpark, and from Masada via Burger Street into the wetland.
De Klerk’s house is next to the river and he has invested a lot of time and energy into finding a solution to the pollution.
He consulted with officials from the Department of Water and Sanitation in September and pointed out the problem areas.
“The main sewer line below Lanham Street cannot take the pressure and is leaking into the river.”
Since September 9, there has been no inflow into the sewerage treatment plant because the sewage pumps on Lanham Street are not working.
“Machinery had to be switched off at the sewerage treatment plant because the pipes and couplings cannot take the pressure, and leaks occur,” explained De Klerk.
Officials have battled to get purchase orders to repair the pumps and signed requisitions for urgent maintenance since July.
The contractor cannot work on the pumps without a purchase order from the City of Tshwane. According to De Klerk, contractors have also not been paid for work done since June.
“Several reports were submitted to Pretoria, stating that millions of litres of raw sewage are going directly into the water source,” said De Klerk.
The DWS ordered the City of Tshwane to repair sewer lines and to avoid blockages that lead to overflowing manholes and sewage spills.
De Klerk told Streek News, that at the beginning of October, the DWS officials vowed to do follow-up inspections. He had hopes that the sewage spills would finally be over, but that was not the case.
“Nothing was done about the problem. The people from the Department of Water and Sanitation came again on November 10 to see if any work had been done about the blocked manholes in Bronkhorstspruit.
“After seeing nothing was done about solving the problem they met with the municipality, to find out what was going on,” said De Klerk.
“The municipality went out on November 12 with a truck to blow open the sewage pipes. “The truck was there for a long period and there was sewage all around the manhole that was blown open,” said De Klerk.
He said the municipality went out the week before but the truck got stuck. According to the municipality workers who tried blowing clear the sewage pipes, the problem lies under the N4 highway.
Raw sewage is also running down the streets due to sewage removal pumps not functioning. The raw sewage pumps which must pump to the recirculation works have been out of order since September 9.
“The Department of Water and Sanitation is deeply concerned about the pollution running into the river system,” De Klerk.
“Honeysuckers (sewerage waste removal tankers), from other provinces, are releasing solid human waste into the recirculation works, which cannot process the waste as pumps are not working.”
De Klerk said the regional head has been repeatedly informed of the situation but has not taken any remedial steps by members of the community.
Cali Phanyani, regional group head and operational co-ordinator at the City of Tshwane, said on a WhatsApp group on November 6 he will ensure the purchase order is immediately issued to repair the sewage pumps.
He undertook to liaise with Jabu Mabona who is the regional head and deputy director in Region 7.
