A few emails to our infamous Metro Communications Department still remain unanswered \u2013 not that I expected them to actually do so!<\/p>\n
So, I decided to follow my nose which led me to the storm water outlet close to PEDSAC only to witness a soupy morass with toilet paper and other stuff cascading into the harbour. A quick walk up the storm water line showed a broken inspection cover outside the harbour precincts. Thinking that this could be the source of the problem I exited the harbour security control and drove along the railway lines back towards Kings Beach. Before I got there though, I noticed a pump running outside the sewage pump station and stopped to enquire.<\/p>\n
Apparently both submersible pumps for the pump station had blown last week and Enviro-Tech were manning a mobile pump to keep the crap flowing as it were. This pump station services the Humewood and South End area so, if you are in that area please try and hold it in for a bit. The lead time on when the pumps will be repaired is a bit open ended unfortunately.<\/p>\n
Now this is where it gets a bit, shall we say; \u201cMurky?\u201d.<\/p>\n
What happens at the pump station is that the submersible pumps are at the bottom of a holding tank and pump merrily away until there is a problem. When a problem occurs the sewage level rises up to a specific outflow point. Now, we cannot have sewage running back up the line and popping manhole covers open in the middle of the streets so when the backed up sewage reaches a critical overflow height \u2013 as a result of pumps failing or a major crappy event \u2013 it is allowed to flow into the nearest available stormwater drain. This particular pump station\u2019s stormwater overflow drain exits directly into the harbour via an outfall close to PEDSAC.<\/p>\n
One can only surmise that the temporary pump has failed\/run out of diesel\/needed a service a couple of times as the tenants in the western area of the harbour have been complaining to Transnet since Thursday last week.<\/p>\n
Apparently the last time there was a major problem at this pump station was 17 years ago and the then Commodore of the Yacht Club was so incensed at the crap floating in the harbour that he asked the SAPS to arrest the engineer on site. During that incident the stormwater overflow ran for three days.<\/p>\n
I was told on site that the Municipal by-laws allow for the discharge of sewage into the stormwater system under certain circumstances AND this is where I admit defeat as I, for the life of me, cannot find the specific by-law that states this as true. It must be (have been) true in the days when the system was built, though. One would think that in the \u2018heightened environmental sensitivity age\u2019 that we now found ourselves that the rules would have changed, though.<\/p>\n
I cannot find any such notation in the NELSON MANDELA BAY METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT BY-LAWS<\/a> or any of the Water and Sanitation by-laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n If our exalted Metro Communications department does clarify the matter then I shall post an update here.<\/p>\n In the meantime COULD some clever person please find the details for us of the municipal by-law (escape clause?) that allows sewage to run unchecked into the sea?<\/p>\n
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