The municipality says there is no sign of raw sewage running into the Mooi River.
After the Herald wrote an article in last week’s newspaper about what we understood to be raw sewage running into the Mooi River at the Retief Street bridge, the Department of Water and Sanitation conducted conclusive investigations. ‘The outcome of the laboratory analyses from the storm drain does not show any characteristics of raw sewer (smell, appearance or chemical analyses),’ says Willie Maphosa, the spokesperson for the city council.
According to Maphosa, the municipality’s laboratory also monitors the quality of the Mooi River on a weekly basis.
They can, therefore, confirm that the results did not show any signs of sewer spillage contamination.
Maphosa says the infrastructure department’s investigation has also confirmed that there was no overflow of raw sewage from any sewer manhole or burst sewer pipe linked to the specific storm drainage.
‘The only burst pipe or leak that the department is aware of is a potable water pipe on the corner of Retief Street next to the Pick n Pay centre. The cloudy colour of the spillage was caused by the crusher dust from a burst water pipe. The water streamed into the storm drain and flowed into the Mooi River. Based on the outcomes of this battery of investigations, we can assure the residents of Potchefstroom that there has been no raw sewage running into the Mooi River.’
