JOHANNESBURG City Parks and Zoo, together with the Hollard Jozi Urban Run Adventure (JURA) team, have put in some serious work to ensure the Braamfontein Spruit is nice and clean before the event.
Taking all the feedback from previous years the Hollard JURA team, together with Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, has taken steps to improve the sections of the route that were a little less than fragrant.
“Our aim is to maximize the runners’ experience and together with Johannesburg City Parks we came up with using Effective Microbes (EM) as a water-cleaning and odour-busting solution to the problem. Now runners can enjoy everything the Hollard JURA route has to offer and have fresh, clean fun along the way,” said event organiser Mark Castel.
Ben Masalesa, Senior Training Facilitator, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, hails the bokashi balls as an excellent water cleaning solution.
“The balls are created from a mixture that includes bran, wheat bran, molasses and a combination of various bacteria endemic to South Africa. The balls sink to riverbed, where they slowly release effective microbes (EM) for up to a month, improving water quality as the ‘good bacteria’ eats away the bad bacteria,” said Masalesa.
Over 1 000 EM bokashi balls were released into waterways along Killarney Golf Course, Wynberg, Emmarentia, Alberts Farm and Innesfree Park. Each bokashi ball can clean approximately 1000 cubic metres of water over its lifespan. The naturally beneficial microbes in EM act to biologically consume odour-causing toxins and break down waste and they are 100 per cent eco-friendly.
Louis Gordon, General Manager: New Business Development for Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo comments on the cleanup.
“The Johannesburg City Parks team of Region E and Region B assisted in cleaning some of the areas that the race runs through, collecting over 150 bags of litter along the way. The team were also tasked with releasing the Effective Microbe (EM) based bokashi balls as part of their Hollard JURA entry fee – it was a fantastic teambuilding exercise and we can’t wait to participate in the race this weekend. Huge improvements have come from the partnership with Hollard JURA. It’s a race that raises awareness of the environmental issues we face and encourages the use of the beautiful public parks we have in Johannesburg,” said Gordon.
Entries are still open. Visit www.joziadventure.co.za for entries and more information.
Courtesy: Kelly Fraser at Nomadic Social.
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