THE Mend the Molweni Project says it is excited to have various municipal departments, who work on by-law compliance, assisting them.

The departments are eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS), the Pollution and Environment Branch and the eThekwini Environmental Health Branch.

The project was started to address the ongoing spillage of sewage into the streets of central Hillcrest.

Chairman of the Kloof Conservancy Paolo Candotti said the EWS and the Pollution and Environment Branch play a critical role in ensuring compliance with the eThekwini Municipal Sewage Disposal by-laws in terms of businesses that discharge trade/industrial effluent into the municipal sewer for which a permit is required.

Also read: Mend the Molweni project in progress

According to Candotti, businesses that carry out activities that produce trade/industrial effluent, such as panel beating or spray painting, printing, car wash bays and mechanical workshops, would require a permit to discharge their wastewater / trade effluent / industrial effluent into the municipal sewer.

He emphasised that businesses carrying out these activities must pre-treat their trade/industrial effluent to comply with the by-law discharge limits and permit special limits and conditions before discharging into the municipal sewer.

“This effluent is then further treated at the Hillcrest Wastewater Treatment Works before being discharged into the uMhlatuzana River.”

He stated that the problem in Hillcrest is that due to the large number of restaurants and food outlets discharging fatty/oily wastewater into the sewer, the pump stations get full of fat which results in the municipality incurring substantial costs for the removal and disposal of the fat.

In addition, Candotti said a further problem is that the sewers get blocked, resulting in sewer manholes overflowing into stormwater drains and ultimately into the Molweni and uMhlatuzana rivers.

“The fat, which ends up in the Hillcrest Treatment Works, affects the quality, specifically the disinfection process of effluent discharged into the uMhlatuzana River. All restaurants and food outlets are required to have suitable fat traps to prevent/minimise the amount of fatty/oily wastewater discharged into the sewer. This is one of the main issues the Mend the Molweni Project is trying to address with the various municipal departments.”

Also read: Upper Highway conservancies tackle sewage issues

He mentioned that the Pollution and Environment Branch (P&E) operates across the entire city, and Hillcrest falls under the West Zone, and the specific section they deal with falls under a highly trained team headed by Claudia Botha (professional technologist) and Larry Laas (chief water quality officer).

“The team also includes a chemical technician and six water quality / senior water quality officers. The team conducts site inspections, processes permits and regulates businesses to identify pollution potential and illegal discharges and to ensure compliance with the by-laws and permit conditions.

“There are also pollution-chasing inspectors within the P&E branch who trace pollution in the rivers and stormwater drains to the source.”

The following would provide significant assistance:

· A well-informed public that understands how the sewer and stormwater systems function so that when there are problems, the information provided to eThekwini Water Services is accurate and the root causes can be quickly found.

· Businesses that understand their obligations and comply with the terms of their permits because it’s the ‘right thing to do’ – the team cannot monitor every business 24/7.

· Businesses must apply for permits before discharging of wastewater / trade effluent to the sewerage system.

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