The Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, conducted an oversight visit at the Rooiwal Water Works Treatment Plant [WWTP] today following the recurring problem of sewage spillage that continues to pollute farmlands as well as the Apies River, placing the community at risk.
Built in 1951, the Rooiwal WWTP serves areas such as Soshanguve, Pretoria North, Rosslyn and Wonderboom and has an average treatment capacity of 180 Mega Litres per day. Historically the plant is responsible for sewage spillage owing to cable theft, lack of preventative maintenance and frequent electrical failure on equipment due to old infrastructure.
During the in loco inspection at the plant, Msimanga committed to take immediate steps to address challenges at the Rooiwal WWTW and to bring the change the residents need, change that will move it forward again.
“We realise that this has caused hardship and inconvenience to many residents in the area. With the start of the new financial year, the City has started a new maintenance budget cycle, and this will allow for further, much needed repairs and maintenance work to be done. We have allocated R81 million towards repairs and maintenance of waste water treatment plants in the City. The bulk of the allocation will be used towards problematic and critical plants such as Rooiwal WWTP.” said Msimanga
The long term solution is the extension of the plant, and a tender for this was issued in 2016. The R2 billion tender closed at the end of January, and is in the final stages of the evaluation process. It is a complex tender, and includes the design, construction and financing of the project.
In the meantime, the City has taken certain remedial action to improve the operation of the plant. We implore or residents to be patient with us while due process is being followed. However, as evidence by our IDP and Budget, change is coming. This remedial action includes changes to the actual treatment process, as well as significant mechanical and electrical maintenance. This has improved the quality of the effluent discharge, but are still not sufficient to completely counter the impact of the overloading.
In further improvements, the City is about to contract for the dredging of the ponds that contain sludge, thus curtailing any sludge build up in the area. This action will start very shortly.
“This DA-led multi-party administration believes that the expansion, upgrading and refurbishment of water, electricity and other utility services, where necessary, will allow for greater commercial activity across the City and will go a long way to the betterment of the lives of the people in Tshwane” stated the MMC for Utility Services, Darryl Moss.
The DA-led multi-party administration is committed to improved service infrastructure and maintenance to meet demands required by our people.