Litter catchment system in Hennops River needs more hands
Enquiries from residents about the foam on the water were also received and Johnston once again expressed her concern about the amount of raw sewage that reaches the Hennops River. The foam on the water is indicative of the pollution in the water, she said.
The litter catchment system installed by Hennops Revival in the Hennops River at Irene Club, Centurion, is effective and creates a lot of work every time it rains.
According to Tarryn Johnston, founder of the NPO Hennops Revival, they have just cleared the trap, “which took us the whole of last week” from the previous rain when it started raining again on Thursday night.
“The litter catchment system was installed here in Irene where the Hennops starts. It is very effective and caught a phenomenal amount of rubbish. A lot of rain has come down.
“Huge trees were caught and we will not be able to move them manually due to their size. That is almost impossible. We will need TLBs, the big guns, to remove these branches.”
ALSO READ: Litter trap in Hennops successful during first rains
At the first phase the cable which should ordinarily be in the riverbed, was completely lifted up and out of the water when a huge tree hooked it, she said.
“It will need to be our first priority to remove this tree from the system so that it can start functioning again.
“Our barrel system, which catches the finer particles, is also full, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“At this phase there is a barrel release system installed. We have a cable with a row of barrels on it, which is in the water. It works in such a way that when the water level rises above a certain point, as indicated by a pole connected to the system, it will just pop off and release the system.
“That will prevent damming or back flooding,” she said, “and this system is protected by the two phases above it which catch larger particles”.
Johnston warned residents not to dump organic material into the river as it can cause serious damage to infrastructure and property when it causes blockages. Not only in litter traps, but also at low water bridges.
“At the third phase, there is no marking where the water level was, but obviously well over the trap. It is definitely working well. We are pleased.”
Rekord reported earlier the system was planned in three stages. The first stage is that of a trap catching large items, the second catching smaller items, and the third, those really fine items.
Enquiries from residents about the foam on the water were also received and Johnston once again expressed her concern about the amount of raw sewage that reaches the Hennops River.
“The foam on the water is indicative of the pollution in the water,” she said.
She encouraged residents to assist Hennops Revival to clean up the litter trap after rains as it is a mammoth task.
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