Rooiwal wastewater treatment works upgrades prioritised in draft budget

Upgrades to the Rooiwal wastewater treatment works (WWTW) were being prioritised in the Tshwane metro’s draft budget to improve its water quality.

“Upgrading Rooiwal WWTW is key to improving water quality in the surrounding areas and it is for this reason that the upgrade and refurbishment at the plant is a core priority for our coalition government,” Tshwane metro MMC for Finance Peter Sutton said.

“Our commitment and prioritisation comes through strongly in our draft budget.”

Phase 1 of upgrade work, which began in 2020, was continuing with the following as the scope of work:

– Upgrading inlet works at the Rooiwal north plant.

– Upgrading biological reactors’ mixing and aeration system.

– Upgrading anaerobic digester at the Rooiwal east and west plants.

– Upgrading top sludge dewatering facility.

– Upgrading Rooiwal north plant flow balancing tank control systems.

“I want to give my commitment to the residents and farmers in the Rooiwal and Hammanskraal areas affected by the polluted water, that this coalition government will continue to work to find long-term solutions to this critical issue,” Sutton said.

Some of the key objectives that the metro was committed to in the project were:

– Investigate the aspects of and appointments to the maintenance and capital work at the plant which failed residents.

– Reiterate the concept of value for money and fit for purpose when it came to dealing with the plant.

– Ensure belt presses returned to operational level as quickly as possible.

– Ensure the operational budget fits the needs at the Rooiwal WWTW.

– Ensure the capital budget expansions were funded.

– Ensure experts in the field of WWTW were approached to assist the metro with the Rooiwal WWTW and its other WWTWs.

– Strengthening the metro’s working relationship with the water and sanitation department to the benefit of stakeholders in Tshwane.

“The fact that key aspects of the plant are not working is gravely unacceptable,” Sutton said.

While there was still some work to be done before the upgrades were complete, he said they saw the primary settling tank was 88% complete and the digesters 68% complete when they did a tour of the Rooiwal WWTW.

“There is still a lot of work to be done and we are investigating certain aspects of this project, but I was pleased to see that work is progressing on-site,” Sutton said.

He added that concerns were also raised about the supply chain processes for the tendering of Phase 1.

“As a result, the office of the mayor has requested a formal investigation into any irregularities with a 90-day deadline,” he said.

Sutton further said Phase 2 of the upgrades would see the WWTW handling greater amounts of sewage.

“The objective of Phase 2 is to upgrade the plant to handle greater amounts of sewage – from its existing 120ml/day capacity to include an additional 80ml/day for a total of 200ml/day,” he said.

This, he explained, would ensure that the plant had sufficient capacity to handle the current inflow of sewage into the plant without it overflowing into the rivers and unlock developments in the area discharging into the WWTW.

“We are committed to prioritising the Rooiwal project to ensure that the city is able to prevent the pollution of our rivers and to create a safe and healthy environment for all residents in the affected area. This project will also ensure that the farming and Hammanskraal communities receive potable water and will unlock much-needed capacity for development in the area,” Sutton said.

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