There are several reasons for the Bakerton sewage line getting blocked.
This is in response to an article printed in last week’s Addie “Raw sewage pollutes Blesbokspruit”.
Themba Gadebe, spokesman of the Ekurhuleni metro explains the cause of the problem is that the pipe line was installed at a shallow angle.
This is causing the sewage solids to accumulate at the bottom of the line and it leads to a build-up until the line is eventually blocked.
He says another cause of this sewer line getting blocked is because illegal miners dump rocks, sand and all kinds of materials into it.
These miners intentionally cause blockages so they can utilize the water for their illegal mining activities.
He also confirmed that there are open manholes close to the river because of ongoing theft of the covers. and that another possible cause is that the water from the spruit filters through these manholes, especially when the water table is high.
He assures Bakerton residents that appropriate actions are being taken to stop or reduce the pollution, saying the water and sanitation department is running monthly environmental water quality monitoring programmes across Ekurhuleni, including the Blesbokspruit to monitor the water quality.
During these tests a bacteriological parameter such as faecal coliforms (f.coli), one of the indicators of sewer pollution, is analysed.
About the sewage debris strewn on the grass between the manholes and the Blesbokspruit on the Pintail Close side of the spruit, Gadebe says the metro’s officials are cleaning up this debris to the best of their ability.
