WATCH: DWS investigating sewage in Middelburg Dam after municipality admits pollution
Authorities still searching for origin of sewage polluting Middelburg Dam.
The Department of Water and Sanitation and the Steve Tshwete Municipality both still have no idea where the raw sewage polluting one of Middelburg Dam’s inflows, is coming from.
The authorities are desperately searching for the origin of the sewage flow that is polluting the dam from one of its tributaries.
According to DA councillor Johann Dyason, he responded to complaints from visitors of the dam, and saw for himself the extent of the pollution.
He immediately escalated the matter to municipal managers who, in turn, went to investigate for themselves.
What they found was so troubling that the Department of Water and Sanitation were dispatched to assist with the investigation into the effluent’s outflux.
Video material provided by Dyason shows a very polluted tributary, with an active sewage inflow still visible.
@middelburgobserver Drone footage from Middelburg Dam, the town’s primary water source, has revealed an influx of raw sewage entering the dam. The Steve Tshwete Municipality has confirmed the pollution. The municipality, together with the Department of Water and Sanitation, is currently investigating the source of the sewage leak, which is flowing into the Klein Olifants River and Witbank Dam. Should the contaminated water move beyond Middelburg, it will flow directly into Loskop Dam, posing a potential risk to citrus export farms in the Loskop Valley, including areas as far as Groblersdal in Limpopo.
Dayson met with the municipality again yesterday, saying that the origin has still not been found.
“They are still searching, and unfortunately nothing can be done to stem the sewage pollution if we don’t know where it is coming from,” Dyason said.
Tests have also confirmed the presence of raw sewage in Kruger Dam
Middelburg Dam is Middelburg’s main water source, which was until recently also being polluted by effluent flow from Hendrina and Kwazamokuhle, due to continued theft and vandalism of the sewage pump station, situated on a private farmer’s land.
The farmer has been forced to dig trenches on his farm to stop raw sewage polluting his land, and poisoning his livestock.
Blinkpan is also a big contributor of major sewage pollution due to problems at the main sewage plant where municipal workers broke the wall of a sewage dam, and dug a trench directly to a stream feeding the Klein Olifants River, Witbank Dam, and Middelburg Dam.
The Hendrina problem has been sorted, but the sewage pipeline is so long, and above ground, exposing it to the elements, resulting in regular leaks due to fatigue.
The crisis poses the question: “Is Middelburg’s potable water safe to drink?”
According to Dyason, yes it is, but would you risk it?
