The Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation has urged municipalities to adopt best practices used by the City of Cape Town (COCT) in managing wastewater.
Leon Basson, the Chairperson of the committee, said “the Department of Water and Sanitation together with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, must encourage municipalities to interact and resolve this old challenge in the country. It is only through collaboration and sharing of best practice that communities will be saved from overflowing untreated water into the environment which has a negative impact on the ecosystem.”
Basson also said while the committee acknowledged that the COCT is in a much better place regarding revenue collection and availability of resources including workforce, planning and better waste water management, should not depend on revenue.
“The investment of an estimated R 6.1 billion Capital investment programme over the next 10-year period is a welcomed initiative and will ensure increased access and better management of the system” said Basson.
The committee was also encouraged by the City’s willingness to adopt new technologies to improve the waste water system, such as SMART grid, CCTV inspections and Control Room
Despite this, the committee raised concerns that that Green Drop report found that three of the 26 WWTW in the City were receiving sewage above their capacity, namely Gordons Bay, Zandvliet, and Klipheuwel Waste Water Treatment Works. The committee has called for the City to ensure increased focus on these WWTW to increase capacity of the works to ensure that it produces complaint effluent.
Picture: SA Medical Research Council