Town’s water unfit for consumption
Water which is pumped to the last stage of treatment - that of adding chlorine - contain live snails.
LYDENBURG – This town’s water is not fit for human consumption.
This shocking discovery was made when Steelburger/Lydenburg News together with DA Member of Parliament, Farhat Essack, paid a visit to the water purification network. Essack is the DA Mpumalanga representative for the national committee of provinces.
Upon arrival, the newspaper was shocked to discover that for the past two weeks, this plant had been operating without any flocculant. Flocculant works to bind together the fine particles in waste sludge and allow for the recycling of 90% of the water.
Yesterday, Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM), delivered a mere five cans of 25 litres of flocculant to the plant. This will only last the town up until Sunday.
Three tanks are supposed to be filled with flocculant constantly, but all three are completely empty.
The sludge dam, responsible for removing debris from the water, has not been operational for the past two years. No water is being “raked” and hence no sludge can be removed.
Water which is pumped to the last stage of treatment – that of adding chlorine – contain live snails. However, the pump filters that need to filter the water before adding the chlorine, has not been replaced in six years.
Essack said that this is utterly disturbing and the thought that residents are exposed to such substandard water, unfit for consumption will be reported.
All of the above was confirmed by a worker at the plant. He told the newspaper that TCLM does not give a dime about the plant. Asked whether he would allow his family to consume the water, the direct answer was a definite: No.
Essack said that this is in violation of every by-law with regard to water purification and decontamination. “I will be taking this matter to the national assembly and I will also inform the Green Scorpions about the total collapse of this system.”‘
Read the full article in next week’s edition.
