The upgraded Paarl Wastewater Treatment Plant was launched last week by Water and Sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane at the Drankenstein Local Municipality.

The wastewater plant is the only one serving the Paarl residential and industrial area. It is also part of the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant projects.

Due to an increase in the levels of effluent coming into the plant, standard began dropping, and as a result, the plant was upgraded in order to meet the general standard (Water Act, 1998).

The project was conducted in two phases. The first involved the necessary upgrading to improve the quality of the effluent in order to meet required standards. This was also done to ensure the plant has the capacity to treat 17,5 MLp/d.

The second phase included expanding the capacity to 35 MLp/d in order to provide additional treatment capacity.

“The department together with the municipality has invested over R 225 million for the development of this infrastructure,” the department said in a statement. “This is to the benefit of over 250, 000 residents of Paarl and critical to the fruit industries in the area which are dependent on water from the Berg River for irrigation purposes.”

The department added that the upgrade project improved the quality of water in the Berg River, which resulted in the negative impact on poor quality irrigation being alleviated.

The department said that the project has also benefitted the local community by enabling them to gain experience and training in construction and various other aspects. This included the recruitment of local people to work on the project as well as the sourcing of materials from local suppliers and manufactures.

At the launch, Mokonyane assured the community that the plant would be monitored to ensure that it served the needs of the people.