Ongoing sewage woes raise a stink

Faults at the Ugu District Municipality’s Mbango Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) have raised serious concerns that have resulted in repairs, and the possibility of an upgrade to the system soon. The Herald was inundated with calls last week Friday that honeysucker trucks were dumping raw sewage at the old Shark’s Den at Port Shepstone. One caller said she had counted about 13 trucks dumping sewage. “It was the most horrible smell, we couldn’t open the doors or windows at home,” she said.

The Herald investigated and was told there was a problem at the Mbango treatment plant. Ugu District Municipality spokesperson, France Zama said the municipality is aware of faults at the WWTW, adding that these were caused by dysfunctional mechanical and electrical components.

“The recent floods also exacerbated matters as pollution from upstream added to the problem. We are currently in the process of conducting repairs, a service provider has already been appointed. As an interim measure, weekly reports are provided to track progress and ensure that this critical treatment works has minimum mechanical and electrical components working to prevent the non-compliance overflow,” said Zama.

He added that the long term plan is for the Mbango WWTW to be upgraded. The upgrade is currently in the planning stage after an engineer was appointed.

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