Work is under way to clear the hyacinths at Bronkhorstspruit Dam, which have been identified as the cause for a breakdown at a local water treatment plant.
This comes after residents in Region 7 have been forced to bear the brunt of water shortages due a broken water treatment plant affected negatively by the invasive plants.
The affected areas include Bronkhorstspruit, Cultural Park, Ekandustria, Ekangala, Rethabiseng, Riamarpark and Zithobeni.
Ward 105 councillor Kgaugelo Phiri last week told residents about a breakdown at the raw water plant in Bronkhorstspruit.
In March this year, the plant operated at very low capacity for more than three weeks owing to equipment failure at the raw water pump station and unforeseen power outages.
Phiri said the invasive plants from the Bronkhorstspruit Dam were destroying the pumps at the abstraction point.
The Department of Water and Sanitation, he said, must first clean the hyacinths before the plant could be repaired.
In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), the City of Tshwane confirmed that the water treatment plant was still experiencing challenges.
“We are removing hyacinth in order to increase pumping. There’s a leak on the raw water line. As soon as the hyacinth is removed we will be able to fix the leak. Water supply to Region 7 areas is affected,” the City said.
On December 1, it was reported that the plant has challenges at the raw water abstraction point due to high hyacinth growth causing blockages on the pumping line.
“Volumes abstracted for purification have dropped and reservoirs are now sitting at very low levels to empty,” it was said.
Frustrated residents have taken to social media to demand a speedy solution to the problem.
One of them, Samuel Radebe, said: “Eish! Our service delivery from Tshwane never gets better, I think we need to go back to our old Kungwini (local municipality).”
The municipality was dissolved and absorbed into the City of Tshwane in 2011.
Other residents were itching to know about the time frame for restoring water supply.
Pretoria News
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