Illegal sewage dumping takes place at Swartkoppies Pumping Station
Liefde en Vrede Sewerage Pumping Station is filled with wastewater because of illegal dumping.
Sewage dumping at the Liefde en Vrede and Alveda sewerage pumping stations is causing pollution.
This pollution has also created environmental concerns for a few years in the areas of Liefde en Vrede, Alveda and Kibler Park.
According to Janne-Vic Krüger, a resident of Eikenhof who has been monitoring the situation, large amounts of sewage and wastewater are being dumped by Johannesburg Water (JW).
“Because of poor infrastructure and vandalism to the pump station, the Liefde en Vrede and Alveda pumping stations cannot cope with the amount of wastewater produced by the surrounding areas. As a result, pumping stations have been dumping the access waste at Liefde en Vrede down to Kibler Park,” he explained.
Extreme pollution therefore affected wetlands, which will eventually affect the area’s freshwater supply as wastewater runs directly into drains and reservoirs that run fresh water throughout the south of Johannesburg. The pollution also affects the wildlife.
“Joburg Water is in charge of these stations, so they are responsible for the dumping of wastewater. They dump a large amount of waste from surrounding areas here and this has been going on for years now,” outlined Krüger.
“This affects areas like the Kliprivier wetland, Kibler Park, Mulbarton and as far as the Vaal Dam. The only way to improve this issue is for JW to upgrade all the pump stations in the area, starting with Liefde en Vrede. They should also find a way to clear the waste they have already dumped here or the community will suffer,” he continued.
Nombuso Shabalala, spokesperson for JW sent this response to the Comaro Chronicle: “JW has a sewerage pump station called Alveda Sewerage Pump Station, which is currently offline because of acts of vandalism where thieves stole critical equipment, resulting in the station being offline.
“As a mitigation strategy, while procurement of spares is underway, and also to minimise the impact to the environment and neighbouring properties, we have embarked on undertaking level control (vacuuming sewerage) using vacuuming trucks from Alveda Sewerage Pump Station and offloading inside the entity’s Liefde and Vrede Sewerage Pump Station’s sewerage pump, from where it gets pumped.”
More than eight days after receiving the above comment from JW, the Liefde en Vrede Pump Station was inspected. The Comaro Chronicle / Albreton Record returned to the site which was in a worse condition than before. Waste is still flowing in excess and the pump station needs immediate attention.
