Sewage spill turns into 'Eau de Woe'

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The Graaff-Reinet Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRPA) last month raised serious concern about the extent to which the sewage spill at the Kroonvale sewage pump station has deteriorated.

Environmental degradation due to the vast volumes of untreated sewage being discharged into the Sundays River and the health hazards posed to residents who have to pass the pump when they use the footpath over the river, were particularly concerning.

Wasteful expenditure

Another concern relates to the wasteful expenditure that could possibly have been avoided by timeous reparation of the pump.

A member of the GRRPA, who was tasked with infrastructure liaison, said he noticed a honey sucker truck suctioning sewage from the pump station on 31 August 2023.

Upon enquiry he was allegedly told that the electrical switch gear controlling the pump had burnt out and that the sewage had to be removed by truck.

He said after a week of the truck running every day, he approached a municipal official to enquire about repairs, and was assured that that it would soon be underway.

At the time the DBNLM also published a notice informing residents of the electrical breakdown at the pump station. They said the electrical maintenance team was trying to resolve the problem and that Super Sucker Trucks would be deployed to prevent any further spillage.

Trucks still running

On 3 October 2023, however, the GRRPA member discovered that the trucks were still running.

Alarmed at what it was costing the town to transport sewage from the Kroonvale sewage pump station to the sewage treatment site, he enquired into the matter again and was told that a site meeting had been arranged for the following day.

Further weekly enquiries revealed that the tender process was underway, and that on 20 November a tender for the repair of the electrical equipment had been awarded.

The member then arranged a meeting with the DBNLM Director of Infrastructure Services Bennie Arends, to find out why it was taking so long for emergency repairs to be done.

"Arends described the difficulty encountered within the municipality where supply chain management is strictly enforced and any deviation from the normal tender procedure must be explained to highly suspicious inspectors. He also indicated that no emergency funds to cover this kind of expenditure was available but gave the assurance that the pump station would soon be repaired," said the member.

He noted that it was a pity that the municipality dropped the ball in relation to the pump repair, as they have been cooperative in complying with requests from the GRRPA up to now.

After observing that the honey sucker truck was still on site at the pump station, the member went to Arends again on 15 January to express his outrage.

Municipality responds

Municipal spokesperson Edwardine Abader confirmed an electrical breakdown at the pump station between October and November.

Abader said the electrical maintenance team immediately attended to repairs but was unsuccessful. Specialised services were required, and therefore a formal invitation to quote was advertised for seven days and a service provider was subsequently appointed.

All parts were ordered but closing of businesses for festive season affected delivery.

"The contractor managed to successfully repair and replace all faulty electrical equipment during the second week of January. Finally, the site has been rehabilitated and cleaning is occurring on a regular basis," Abader said.

Upon a visit to the pump station on Tuesday 30 January, DA Member of Parliament and Dr Beyers Naudé Constituency Leader Samantha Graham-Maré established that some work has been done to remedy the situation.

The pump appears to be in working order and no sewage overflow could be observed.

However, according to Graham-Maré it was evident that the site has not been rehabilitated as stated by Abader, as a massive pool of sewage was observed among the reeds in the river.

"Massive remedial work in terms of cleaning up and getting rid of the raw sewage will have to be undertaken," says Graham-Maré.DBNLM clearing the spill.