A stream quietly winding through Melville Koppies connects parts of Johannesburg’s natural landscape, but the water flowing through it is far from the pristine environment its surroundings might suggest.
The Westdene Spruit begins on the southern side of the ridge between Brixton and Melville before passing through Westdene and eventually making its way through Melville Koppies towards Emmarentia’s dams and wetlands.

Tam Scheidegger, who works with the conservation team at Melville Koppies, says there is something about water that naturally draws people towards it. “If there’s a waterway, you have to go and see it. You have to immerse yourself in it,” she said.

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That, however, is not currently possible in this section of the spruit. “You can’t immerse yourself in this water. You would get very sick,” Scheidegger said.

Regular testing has shown the water is in poor condition, with its health affected by pollution entering the system along its journey. One way the stream’s health is measured is through miniSASS, which looks at the small creatures living in the water. Different insects and invertebrates have different sensitivities to pollution, making their presence – or absence – a useful indicator of water quality.

The Westdene Spruit’s miniSASS score of 4.3 points to a heavily impacted system. Scheidegger said the pollution comes from several sources, including sewer leaks, storm water and waste from recycling operations near the waterway. Anything left on roads can also eventually be washed into the river through storm water systems. “Anything on the road washes into a river. So, if you drop your stuff on the road, it will end up in the river.”

A healthy stream would support a much wider variety of life, including dragonfly and damselfly larvae, small fish, tadpoles and frogs, but Scheidegger said the poor water quality makes life difficult for these species, with dead frogs having been found in the area.

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There is, however, a reason for hope. Scheidegger said the stream can naturally recover as it moves through some sections, including rapids and dams, showing that the waterway is capable of dealing with some pollution. “The river will be able to manage with a little bit of pollution. It can cope, but with a lot, obviously it gets overpowered,” she said.

That is why she believes preventing continuous pollution is important. Residents can help by reporting sewer leaks and other pollution sources to Johannesburg Water and escalating problems through their ward councillors where necessary.

Scheidegger said the stream can cope with occasional flooding, but ongoing pollution is far more damaging. “Monitoring, and walking the rivers, seeing there’s something leaking, actually notify the authorities, then they can come and fix it,” she said.

The October 3 clean-up brought together people from different parts of the community, including Emmarentia, Melville Koppies, the Mountain Club and environmental organisation Hlanzekile Rivers and Oceans Cleaning, which works on the Braamfontein Spruit.

For Scheidegger, the collaboration also brought valuable expertise and equipment to the effort. Ultimately, she hopes the work will help begin restoring a waterway that many Johannesburg residents may not even realise is there.

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