Blocked sewage pump in Helderkruin poses health risks for residents

Residents of Quail and Watson Streets are exasperated over a blocked sewage pump station that has been blocked for more than a month now and said that they have lodged multiple complaints with Johannesburg Water and ward councillors in the area with only promises made and nothing concrete delivered.

Sewage from Quail Street flows towards Watson Street contaminating water in the stormwater drain at the Kloofendal Nature Reserve.

“We have escalated the matters to our ward councillors, but nothing is done,” Zonika van Rooyen, a resident who lives near the pump, said. She continued to cite that multiple calls have been logged and said that since the blockage started, the sewage water runs down the street and the smell is terrible.

Van Rooyen explained that the pump station is next to 862 Quail West Street in Helderkruin and said that everyone’s drain water and toilet water seem to be running from there into the area.

According to Van Rooyen, it was blocked in December 2022 but was sorted out very quickly. This one has been overflowing for more than a month now and six calls have been logged so far, with the first call logged around May.

She said that municipal workers came out at one stage and did assessments by walking around and observing. Ward councillors have been approached for feedback and residents were told that the matter has been escalated.

She said that at first, it was just a normal blockage with overflow into the storm drain, however, now it is a big problem as floods of water run down the road and into Kloofendal Nature Reserve – who was unavailable to comment at the time of going to print.

“We don’t know who else to turn to now, because, I mean, you contact Johannesburg Water, you send them follow-up emails and the only response you get is that they have escalated the matter,” Van Rooyen said. This was about three weeks ago.

Some people use the veld as a footpath and must walk through these infested waters to get to their homes.

On Monday, July 3, an elderly woman who was driving on Quail Street from Pheasant Street was involved in an accident at around 7:00 as the road was slippery. She lost control of the car, and as a result, the car was badly damaged and had to be towed away.

Another concerned resident, Nalene Paul said that it used to be just a little bit of water running down the street as they are situated on a hill, however, for the past two or three days it is like a river flowing down the street.

“It is in our driveway, in our garage, so we have to walk through the sewage to get into our house,” she said and added that they were informed that a truck would come to pump out the excess waste – however, again – to no avail.

Van Rooyen said that to her it looks like the issue is not being escalated to the relevant people or they maybe do not have the manpower to do that.

This, indeed, poses a health risk as residents have cited that their children play around the area and ‘cannot even breathe the air outside as it stinks especially when the wind blows, or when it is really hot’.

“Every time we ask for an update, we are told that it has been escalated, but no one comes to sort out the issue, we know that a truck must come to pump it out, but hey it has been over a month now,” Van Rooyen said, and added that as residents they feel that this is unacceptable and must be attended to.

Zoné Hughes, Ward 85 councillor, and Johannesburg Water were approached for comment on July 4, and again on July 6 but have not responded at the time of going to print.

Teaser: An elderly woman, who drove down Quail Street, lost control of her car and spun as a result of the slippery sewage water running down the street.