Health threat spills into river
"The sewerage formed quite a waterfall before running into the river. The smell was horrific"
A blocked sewer line downstream from the Bushmans River is literally a ticking time bomb. The blocked line close to Drummond Road is already spilling its foul contents into the river and signs of another spill are evident in Connor Street. Democratic Alliance leader LeRoy Gericke was informed about this spill on Saturday, August 23 and went to investigate.
“I was alerted to a threat to the health of all people using water from the Bushmans River downstream from Estcourt. “I was taken to a spot on the bank of the river where raw sewerage was pouring into the river.
“The place is well hidden from the road and judging from the amount of rubbish between the trees, is a regularly used location,” explained Mr Gericke.
He identified that the main sewer line from town had been constructed along the riverbank and that the pressure of water had displaced a large manhole cover. “The sewerage formed quite a waterfall before running into the river. The smell was horrific,” said Mr Gericke. After consulting with an official from Uthukela District Municipality, Mr Gericke was informed that the line further downstream had been blocked by construction workers.
The official reassured Mr Gericke that he would send a request to Umtshezi Municipality for use of equipment to rectify the blocked line. “That is all well and good, however, the line has been blocked for more than two weeks. So why hurry?” uttered Mr Gericke. He says that the effects of the blocked sewer are being seen hundreds of meters away in Connor Street.
“In Connor Street a manhole on the pavement opposite AB Richards is overflowing for the second time in two weeks.
I am not a civil engineer but I think that the accumulation of more than two weeks worth of solid material in the line is going to present a huge problem when the line is eventually fixed, he says. Mr Gericke points out that in order to repair the blocked line, it would have to be drained first, which means that all the backed up sewage will slip back into the river.
“I am of the opinion that the spilling of raw sewerage into a river must be reported to the national Department of Water and Environmental Affairs and that is exactly what I am going to do,” he concluded.
