Ugu responds to sewage spill

UGU municipal manager DD Naidoo announced that he would not be stepping down as the MM, at a media briefing held to address the sewage spill and stench at the Umbango River, at the Ugu boardroom recently.

He said it was disappointing to see a political party using the Umbango River as a publicity stunt. “Well I just want to make it clear that I am not going to be resigning because certain people think I should resign,” said Mr Naidoo.

DD Naidoo said Umbango Waste Water Treatment Works was refurbished within the last five years.

“The refurbishment included installation of mechanical screens to increase production time at the head of works and minimise overflows due to blockage. This also included expansion of the inlet chamber at the head of works to contain sewage,” said Mr Naidoo.

“In July this year an illegal oil spillage was detected at the Umbango sewerage works, the spill had come in the early hours of the morning and resulted in the failure of the sewer purification system,” he explained.

He added that sewage was then immediately directed into the storm pond to avert any further spillages. “During the course of the operations to remove the oil from the system a clarifier was damaged due to the overload on this system,” he said.

The general manager of water services, Lungile Cele said the spillage into the river was because the river mouth was closed which resulted in the contaminated water collecting at the closed mouth. She added that this resulted in the fermenting and the smell.

“Advice was obtained that opening the river mouth would worsen the already unacceptable situation. It must be stressed that contrary to reports in the media, action was taken to try and contain the problem,” she said.

Ms Cele added that Mbango sewerage works normally operated with three clarifiers during the peak season. However, for operational reasons one of the clarifiers was taken out of commission during the off peak season for repairs.

“These repairs were done outside of the normal preventative maintenance routine due to the nature of the repairs and required the rebuilding of the scum boxes. The aerators that perform an integral part of the purification process do, from time to time, require repairs.

“The administration issues have now been resolved and we are moving forward to commission the dewatering plant in order to reduce the load on the Mbango works,” said Mr Naidoo.

“The municipality apologises for this unacceptable situation and assures the public that measures have been put in place to mitigate these occurrences in future.

[VIDEO] Ugu dumps raw sewage in Umbango River