Torrential rain holds up ERWAT operations in Vaal

By Craig Kotze
As with waste water treatment operations affected by torrential rains throughout South Africa, ERWAT activities have also partly been held up by the deluge which started almost as soon as the waste water treatment specialists began in the Vaal this month.
But the rain has not stopped ERWAT from already recruiting and inducting 12 “boots on the ground” contractor companies – mostly from the Vaal region – and deploying them this week already in Sebokeng.
ERWAT confirmed this week the appointed contractors would be undergoing safety orientation this week already and that the personnel were sourced mostly from the Vaal.
Sources close to the project also indicated contractors would be regularly paid and first payments for work done even before Christmas where possible.
It is understood the start-up group consists of 12 contractor companies of varying size and predominantly from the Vaal region.
One area of operations heavily affected by rain was aerial mapping by drones or helicopters to bring available information on infrastructure networks and topographical data up to date.
Heavy vehicles and equipment needed would also be bogged down in mud, expert sources told Mooivaal Media (Ster & Vaalweekblad).
“Of course we welcome rain as a gift from God but some of our operations have been held back – as is the case with waste water treatment plants everywhere that are affected by this rainfall – but we are continuing full speed where we can,” ERWAT MD Tumelo Gopane told Mooivaal Media this week.
The Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) has welcomed Gopane’s energetic approach and commitment to using local contractors and resources for the ERWAT project wherever possible.
Especially using local contractor companies was essential for the local economy and addressing unemployment and would contribute directly to the economic recovery of the Vaal region, according to the GTCoC
The GTCoC also welcomed that ERWAT contractors would be paid on invoice as soon as possible and as work was completed, unlike ELM service provider payments which seemed to be permanently in arrears thus causing hardship across the Vaal.
ERWAT started in the Vaal on 1 December formally and has already unveiled an integrated and world-class strategy to turn the Vaal sewage pollution crisis around in an operation which could last as long as three years.
MD Gopane has also warned of a controlled spike in sewage pollution once operations to unblock manholes and pipes begins in earnest
Unblocking manholes in parallel with other direct interventions and mapping operations would inevitably result in the displacement of sewage at multiple points and thus business and the public would need to be continually made aware of it.