Mysterious foam explained
Greenstone Hill resident, Mr Dean Puntis, experienced large quantities of foam in a river within the Modderfontein Reserve on July 27.
“I am greatly concerned about the water pollution in the Modderfontein Reserve over the past few weeks,” he said. Mr Puntis added that the foam in the river system was higher than what he was. “This cannot be normal. What is in our water system and why? Is it safe?” he asked.
Ms Chantelle Mathomes, spokesperson for Heartland Properties, said that Heartland was advised of this occurrence once before but they were unable to identify the cause at the time. “With the assistance of AEL Mining Services, we have now identified the cause,” she said. Ms Mathomes said on July 26, large volumes of water were released from the Rand Water reservoir near Chloorkop. Sometimes water overflows from the reservoir and enters the water course. “At the same time, the Bundu Pump Station in Modderfontein overflowed. Both these flows entered the water course,” she said. The Bundu Pump Station carries sewer and other effluent from industries that border Modderfontein, through to the Olifantsfontein treatment works.
“The Bundu Pump Station carries effluent from neighbouring industries and a product used in the manufacture of soap and soap powders was present in the effluent,” said Ms Mathomes. She said that even though the pump station overflow was minimal, the turbulence created by the volume of water released from the Rand Water reservoir, combined with the residual product in the Bundu Pump overflow, resulted in the foam. “The Bundu Pump overflow was a direct result of cable theft. This is an infrequent occurrence and is beyond our control,” said Ms Mathomes. She added that measures to prevent future incidents of this nature were being implemented.
“Rand Water is currently modifying the coverings of the inlet chambers at the reservoir. Once this work is completed, overflow incidents should reduce significantly. Electricity was restored to the Bundu Pump Station. Ekurhuleni has upgraded the panel at the pump station and adjusted the stop and start levels on the pump in an attempt to prevent overflows. Additional repairs to infrastructure linked to the sewer system commenced on August 7,” said Ms Mathomes.
Impact on the environment was questioned, but Ms Mathomes said that no impact was noted by the AEL monitoring team. “On-going monitoring in the reserve will confirm the impact, if any. No significant impact was noted after the first occurrence, but the areas will still be monitored in order to attend to any problems, should they occur,” she said.
