An ongoing sewage overflow has left residents in distress.
Cornelius and Hanelise Tromp, residents of the Shelly Point, Golden Mile area have been experiencing spillage of sewage on their property for more than a year.
As explained by the couple, the effects of this has had a great impact in their lives and everyday living. According to Hanelise as soon as the pipelines get clogged and the pumps stop working or do not get cleaned out all the sewage rises and spills onto their property. Cornelius noted that this has been reported to many parties, but no permanent solution has been found yet.
As Cornelius said in one of his emails, the family is in constant ill-health, a huge fly population has taken over and the stench is unbearable. Hanelise also shared with Weslander that her mother’s room and window are situated at the sewage hole point, and she is concerned about her health as well. “Our dogs cannot roam around freely in the yard as well due to this problem,” she said. On numerous occasions it has also been reported to the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM) to assist in cleaning the pipelines, “but this is not done every day”.
According to Tereza Burger, spokesperson for SBM, the Sewer Pump Station (SPS) on 40th Street, Shelly Point, St Helena Bay was designed and constructed to service the sewerage flow for the portion of Shelley Point area, including 6th Street.
“There are instances where the electrical disruptions and damage to the pumps resulted in return flow in the system and that resulted in overflow at the Golden Mile Foul Sewer Manhole, which is the closest. The SPS is routinely inspected at least three times a day to assess the operation and detection of possible failure of operation.”
Burger said this is the daily monitoring conducted with three inspections, which includes the inspection of pumps and the electricity supply to the SPS.
“Where pump/s have stopped working or malfunctioning operations are restored, and the overflow at the drains are cleared using the combination unit for clearing the backflow, the necessary corrective action is taken to remove the sewerage from the area, which includes the use of the necessary chemicals to treat the soil from contamination.”
Burger said in previous instances when the backflow had been reported and unplanned maintenance on the electricity grid was conducted, sewer suction trucks (tankers) were used to empty the sump to relieve the backflow on the sewer pipeline. Meanwhile, the Tromps have not had any relief with this issue and found it disheartening that no proper and permanent solution had been put in place. “It is a very big problem and it is not pleasant at all,” said Hanelise.
