Cape Town - As the City of Cape is adamant about its plan for the R5 billion upgrade of the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW), reports of alleged irregularities have emerged ahead of its stakeholder meeting with the community of Milnerton on March 13.
The ReThinkTheStink community group accused the City of feeding the public false information when issuing reports about the amount of E coli found in the local water bodies around the treatment works. They want the City to rectify the situation prior to proceeding with the upgrades.
The City recently announced that tender appeals on two major contracts were dismissed and it was ready to start cleaning the ponds this month until June on a R4.5m budget. The upgrading aims to increase the water work’s capacity to accommodate the urban growth in the area using membrane technology to ensure high wastewater treatment standards.
Caroline Marx, chairperson for the Milnerton Residents Ratepayers’ Association said this is three years since a pre-directive was issued by the Green Scorpions instructing the City to investigate and remedy the pollution sources.
"Attempts to blame communities upstream from Potsdam for the pollution appear unfounded, with E coli levels in the Diep River above Potsdam measuring 12 100 cfu/100ml. The City’s claims that a transformer failure affected the quality of the effluent from the official discharge point are not reassuring when the previous independent water testing in November, 2022 showed the effluent discharge contained 750 000 cfu/100ml.
"We have written to the Western Cape Minister of Environment and Development Planning, Minister Bredell asking when his department will take action against the continued infringement of the National Environment Management Act and also to the National Minister of Water and Sanitation, asking that his department act to enforce the conditions specified in the Potsdam water use licence.
"The expectation is that the City will commit to an action plan with clear time-lines to stop the pollution from the major sources such as the Erica Road outlet opposite Milnerton High School, the Theo Marais Canal and Potsdam WWTW," said Marx.
Kamogelo Mogotsi, spokesperson for Minister of National Department of Water and Sanitation said: "The department has acted against the City regarding the Potsdam WWTW. There are no noticeable improvements on the final effluent quality produced, the non-compliance with the Water Use discharge limits is still a concern. Further enforcement actions will be taken, should the situation persist."
Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for Minister Anton Bredell at the Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning said: "The City is compliant with majority of the conditions of the Modified Directive apart from those conditions for which the time frames have future dates, such as the major wastewater infrastructure upgrades. The Department is constantly monitoring the situation and will act within its mandate, if and when necessary, to ensure compliance with said Directive."
Siseko Mbandezi, acting Mayco member for water and sanitation said, the sources of pollution in the Diep River and catchment, including Milnerton lagoon, are varied and come from a wide geographical area.
“The City is, however, doing everything we can to address sources of pollution that is within our mandate, taking steps to improve the Milnerton lagoon and the Diep River environment by appointing environmental consultants to investigate and assess possible short-term interventions.
“The scheme discharges treated effluent into the Diep River System, and the City is spending R4.5 million to clean the maturation ponds and treatment process to ensure better quality and compliant discharge,” he said.