Authorities working to address sewer spillages

© Viktor Gladkov – 123RF.com

In a statement, the department said it is responsible for the effective management of the country’s water resources.

“In discharging its oversight functions, the department encountered high levels of sewer pollution which negatively impacted on water quality in our water resources,” it said.

Upon further investigations it was discovered that the pollution came mostly from dysfunctional municipal waste water treatment plants.

The department noted that waste water treatment works in most municipalities are in a state of decay due to poor maintenance.

“The situation is also compounded by the fact that communities are growing but the infrastructure is still the same, which leads to overloading, leading to the spillages we experience. Most plants are operating above their design capacity.

In preventing the further pollution of our water resources, the DWS is intervening in the municipalities mostly affected by sewer spillages through the funding of the refurbishments of the waste water treatment works. Waste water treatment works need to be operating optimally to ensure that treated effluent of acceptable standards is discharged into the water resources,” explained the department.

Some of the municipalities benefitting through the Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme (ACIP) in Mpumalanga include Emakhazeni and Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme local municipalities.

Refurbishment projects are currently underway in Waterval Boven, Machadodorp and Belfast in Emakhazeni local municipality and in Amersfort in the Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme local municipality to ensure that the plants are compliant.

The department is also gravely concerned with the poor performance of most municipalities in terms of the Green Drop report, which is one of the main reasons for the interventions into the municipalities that negatively affect the water quality in sources such as rivers, streams and dams.

“We all need to work together as responsible citizens and government to ensure that our waste water treatment works are in good condition and prevent unnecessary sewerage spillages that pollute our water resources,” said the department.