Committee checks pH levels in Modderfontein
This initiative was first implemented in Canada as a result of several incidents.
MEMBERS of Modderfontein Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Committee visited the liming station at the Modderfontein industrial complex, where they were shown aspects of the complex’s effluent water treatment process.
African Explosives Limited (AEL) staff explained how effluent water was channelled through the liming station, where a new automated monitoring system checks the ‘potential of Hydrogen’ (pH) of the water and automatically adds lime if the pH is too low to counteract the acidity of the water and render it suitable for release into the complex’s sewer system.
“A pH value is a number from one to 14, with seven as the middle (neutral) point,” explains CAER Committee chairman Robbie Vermont. “Values below seven indicate acidity which increases as the number decreases, one being the most acidic.”
In addition, a range of tests is carried out along the Modder Spruit on a continuous basis to ensure the water quality matches up to parameters laid down in legislation and required by the Department of Water Affairs.
“CAER committees exist worldwide and are drawn from members of the public residing in close proximity to factories using or producing potentially hazardous chemicals,” says Vermont.
“This initiative was first implemented in Canada as a result of several incidents, including the notorious Bhopal disaster in 1984, when a leak of methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide factory in India led to the deaths of an estimated 16 000 people living in the surrounding communities.”
