Rooiwal upgrades prioritised following damning report

The Tshwane municipality said it was prioritising upgrade work to the Rooiwal wastewater treatment works plant.

“This will ensure that we can prevent the pollution of our rivers and create a safe and healthy environment for all residents in the affected area,” said acting utility services MMC, Peter Sutton.

The move comes after the metro was lambasted by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) over its failure to maintain and manage the plant.

“The project means that both the Hammanskraal and local farming communities have potable water. It will unlock much-needed capacity for development in the area,” Sutton said. The metro prioritised the refurbishment in its draft budget.

Upgrade and refurbishment work to the plant, which began at the beginning of 2020, was divided into several phases.

Phase 1 sought to refurbish and upgrade the existing infrastructure after years of neglect. Phase 2 will see the plant being able to handle greater amounts of sewage daily.

The scope of work for the first phase entailed:

– upgrading inlet works at the Rooiwal north plant
– upgrading the biological reactors’ mixing and aeration system
– upgrading the anaerobic digester at the Rooiwal east and west plants
– upgrading the top sludge dewatering facility
– upgrading the Rooiwal north plant flow balancing tank control systems

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” said Sutton.

“We are investigating certain aspects of the project, but I was pleased to see that work is progressing.”

Regarding phase 2 of the project, he said: “This will ensure that the plant has sufficient capacity to handle the current inflow of sewage into the plant without the risk of spills or overflow into the rivers. It will also unlock developments in the discharging to the wastewater treatment works plant.”

Other key objectives included ensuring that the belt presses returned to full operational levels as soon as possible; that the operational budget fit the needs at the Rooiwal wastewater treatment works plant; approaching experts in the field to assist the City at this and other plants; and
strengthening their relationship with the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Last year, the SAHRC attributed unacceptable levels of pollution to the metro failing to manage and maintain its wastewater treatment works plants.

“Failures in management have resulted in a regression in standards of delivery,” it said.

This included “poor planning and implementation evidenced by the insufficient number of wastewater treatment plants to accommodate the growing population in Tshwane”.

The metro’s failure “violated the constitution and constitutional and other legislative norms and standards”.

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