HIGHWAY residents are up in arms after discovering the Hillcrest Wastewater Treatment Works is dumping hundreds of gallons of raw sewage into the Umhlatuzana River.

Members from the Giba Gorge Environmental Precinct said this issue was ongoing.

During a site visit last week, unfiltered effluent continued to flow freely into the river.

“There are massive health concerns for the people further down the river. The Tshelimnyama community use the river as a water source for washing, bathing and children swim in it,” said a deeply concerned Mike Lorentz.

Denzil Bazley, a mechanical engineer responsible for the maintenance of the Hillcrest works from 1997 to 2008, who initiated and supervised a few of the upgrades, formed part of the group at the site visit.

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He noted that only one of the three aerators on the extended aeration tank was running. Another one of the tanks was broken.

“This would severely impact processing. With the overloading of the works, all three should be running,” he said.

The sludge drying plant was shut down and several items of equipment were locked out by the maintenance contractor. Two of the sludge drying beds had old sludge in them and the rest were not in use.

“It is apparent they have not been used for some time. Effectively, little or no desludging is taking place,” said Bazley.

“The quality of the water in the final effluent is very poor and no chlorination is being done.” (see inset photo). “This water should be clear, with no scum. No amount of chlorination would serve any purpose with this level of solids carry-over,” he said.

“The plant loading in general is over its capacity. This was identified 15 years ago but was not fully addressed. A balancing tank and the drying plant were installed but these have not increased the processing capacity. They have merely balanced the inflow and improved sludge drying. The proliferation of restaurants and take-away outlets in Hillcrest has not been addressed.”

Bazley said maintenance contracts for Hillcrest WWTW expired a year ago and have not been renewed.

“Limited efforts by municipal artisans have not yielded a restoration of functions. The maintenance contracts should be awarded as a matter of urgency as the effective operation of these works is critical to public health and safety,” concluded Bazley.

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