Businesses demand permanent solution to sewer problem

A few Alrode South businesses demand an investigation and permanent solution into the malfunctioning sewer system said to frequently break down and overflow.

This periodic sewer malfunction described to be a health hazard is said to have gone on for years now, with no permanent solution.

Farhaad Ebrahim of The Car Collector, whose business was recent without proper working toilets, said lack of maintenance is the contributing factor.

“There is a pump station around these factories and that station does not get maintained at all, which could be the underlying factor. With developments in the area, the sewer system is likely to get overloaded. This is a flourishing industrial area and we need to upkeep it,” he said.

Ebrahim demanded the City of Ekurhuleni provide a permanent solution.

“Our stormwater channel and the sewer line are linked. If you flush my toilet, my basin starts bubbling and that’s a health hazard. “The reality is that what they do is short-term relief, we don’t even get excited to see them anymore,” he said.

He said flooding during rainy seasons is also a major issue at their factories due to a lack of maintenance of stormwater channels.

A business manager also told the RECORD that this has gone on for years.

“It used to be a summer thing, but for the past year, it’s been a continuous human sewage farm in our parking lot. Every month, I battle for weeks to get this issue resolved. When it’s fixed, it’s never for more than a week,” she said.

Ward 94 candidate councillor Samantha Nair assured the RECORD that she will escalate this issue to relevant departments to have it resolved.

However, CoE’s spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said: “The biggest problem, which has recently been identified is the fact that a company or someone is illegally dumping insoluble ‘toilet paper like’ material, which is causing multiple blockages to the system.”

He said it was impractical for them to put a turnaround time on this since it is a non-technical issue but requires an investigation for the culprit to be identified and stopped.

“An investigation to identify and stop the culprit has been initiated. This will lead to the stopping of the illegal dumping or sewer abuse, thus drastically reducing sewer blockages, which damage pump station equipment and spillages,” he said.