Following a news article of a constantly overflowing sewer pipeline at a house in Panorama, the City of Cape Town responded saying work has been done to rectify the issue.
READ | Panorama resident fed-up with overflowing sewer
Last week TygerBurger reported on how resident Shantal Johansen had to endure a stench from an overflowing sewer on Tuesday 2 May.
This was not the first overflow at the Piketberg Street property, she wrote.
“After 12 years of living on this island, we have been experiencing this constant hazardous mess. This is by now surely a known problem in your ward, and nobody is fixing it permanently once and for all. It is always a constant investigation with cameras being inserted in the pipes to find fat, toilet paper or syringes etcetera,” she wrote in an email addressed to the ward councillor.
Inspection complete
The City was approached for comment.
“A CCTV inspection was conducted on this sewer pipeline and no defects were found, so there is no repair to be done, but there is a consistent build-up of fats, oils and grease in the pipeline. This causes blockages which means that households along the network are putting significant amounts of fats, oils and grease down their kitchen sinks or outside gullies which end up in the sewer. These harden inside the pipelines and coupled with other items, such as toilet paper and other waste, which progressively accumulate to form blockages,” said Zahid Badroodien, Mayco member for water and sanitation, in a response.
Two years ago, non-return-valves (NRVs) were installed at several of the houses in the area including Johansen’s property. “At the time, the property owner of number 3 claimed they had no sewer problems on this property. The property has since changed ownership and it has flooded, although at the moment there are no blockages/overflows,” said Badroodien.
The way forward
Going forward the water and sanitation directorate will be engaging with the owner of number 3 to install an NRV if the owner agrees; including Piketberg Street to their programme of pro-active cleaning, as well as request the water pollution control branch to investigate the network to try and identify the households that are putting fats, oils and grease into the sewer.
“Investigations will continue into the causes of the blockages on the midblock sewer pipeline in Piketberg Street,” Badroodien said.
