The Emfuleni Local Municipality has refuted claims that its sewer reticulation system is one of the pollution threats to the Vaal River System, through E-coli and other pathogens, from raw or poorly treated sewage.

In a statement released last week the municipality acknowledged that its ageing infrastructure posed a challenge in relation to its reticulation system, however it claimed that it was not true that pipe bursts were not noticed or attended to.

“Our maintenance team ensures that there are regular checks on the system to avoid situations where a large amount of sewage finds its way to the Vaal River,” said Klaas Mofomme spokesperson for the municipality.

According to the statement the municipality noted with concern the incorrect representation of facts that it does not have its own maintenance staff at its Waste Water Care Works (WWCW).

“It must be put on record that all our Waste Water Care Works, Leeuwkuil, Rietspruit and Sebokeng, operate 24 Hours throughout the year as part of our commitment to ensure that the waste water is treated to acceptable standards. We also want to emphasise that there are maintenance teams on standby for each WWCW which operate in three shift systems,” Mofomme added.

Sufficiently staffed

According to Mofomme both Leeuwkuil and Rietspruit Works have an electrician, a fitter, two fitter assistants, electrical foreman and a mechanical foreman.

Each is supported by one Millwright (an electrical/mechanical fitter) provided by Rand Water Bulk Sanitation Department as part of the municipality’s Service Level & Management Agreement which it entered into in September 2009 for 5 years, and was subsequently extended for period of one year ending June 2015.

Sebokeng WWCW’s maintenance team comprises of an electrician, two fitters, one fitter assistant, electrical foreman and a mechanical foreman. In addition to that, Rand Water provides 2 Millwrights to complement its maintenance team.

With these teams in place, the municipality has managed to achieve, for 2013/2014, the following effluent compliance:

• Leeuwkuil – 97%
• Rietsruit – 85%
• Sebokeng – 97%

Addressing property development

“The Municipality acknowledges that it is faced with some challenges in relation to waste water treatment especially due to new property development in our area. However, we have plans in place to address these challenges,” noted Mofomme.

He explained that an environmental impact assessment had been conducted to construct a 36 megalitres per day emergency dam, an additional clarifier, a chlorine contact tank and a new final effluent discharge point in Rietspruit.

“We are awaiting the approval of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant application that was submitted for this project.”

Sebokeng WWCW is currently in the process of being upgraded by two additional modules of 50 megalitres per day each. This project is funded by the department of Water and Sanitation and Rand Water is the implementing agent. Construction started in 2013 and is expected to be completed in 2016.

“We hope that with all these upgrades, the Emfuleni Sewer Reticulation System will improve and be able to handle the strain that our plants are experiencing as a result of new property development and other factors,” concluded Mofomme