City promises that water infrastructure will be ready for festive season
Working on the wastewater works in parts of the city, doubling down on beach water testing and maintaining infrastructure are all part of the eThekwini Metro’s plans for the festive season.
THE eThekwini Municipality’s uMngeni-uThukela Water Board has entered into an initial 12-month contract with the eThekwini Metro for the operation and maintenance of some of the City’s Waste Water Treatment plants that were affected by the April 2022 floods.
The agreement has been effective from November 15 and will see the water board involved in the operation of 10 wastewater treatment works that handle over 90% of the total wastewater generated by the eThekwini Metro.
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“We are happy to report that, to date, uMngeni-uThukela Water has completed a conditional assessment of the wastewater infrastructure in the 10 wastewater works and is implementing an urgent programme to restore compliance going into the festive season.
“We have dispatched technical teams from both uMngeni-uThukela Water and eThekwini that have already started working together on identified projects to improve compliance. The delivery of necessary chemicals, integration of monitoring and laboratory analyses are expected to be completed by this coming Friday, December 1,” said the mayor, Councillor Mxolisi Kaunda.
The City says it has prioritised projects which include:
• The rehabilitation and putting back into operation the uMhlanga Wastewater Works which last operated before the 2022 floods. This will reduce the flow to the oHlange Pump Station which has been on the news for being overloaded and occasionally overflowing.
• The rehabilitation and recommissioning of Northern Works to improve the effluent quality contributing to the neighbouring Blue Lagoon.
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“We continue to conduct regular tests on our water quality with an independent laboratory, Talbot, and we are happy to report that the latest results from last week indicated acceptable levels of E. coli on our beaches. The reason we have increased the frequency of testing to twice a week is to ensure our water quality is of the highest standard,” Mayor Kaunda added.
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