The recent Green Drop report, which assesses municipal waste water works, revealed a 7% score for Makana Municipality, which has caused Grahamstown residents to question whether the plant is being running properly.
The recent Green Drop report, which assesses municipal waste water works, revealed a 7% score for Makana Municipality, which has caused Grahamstown residents to question whether the plant is being running properly.
Regional Director of the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Andrew Lucas said that one of the biggest problems with Makana Municipality concerning the Green Drop report was that they did not prioritise the report as they did with the Blue Drop report.
The Green Drop report assesses the waste water (WW) works of municipalities and the Blue Drop Report analyses the quality of the drinking water.
Lucas added that they could not prove their competency and it was going to be either a fail or a pass. “We must not be concerned that they failed as they may be doing the job on the ground, but they did not have the documents to prove it.
To say that everything is a lost cause, is wrong. Grahamstown came forward to be assessed, unlike other municipalities.” Lucas said.
However, he said that they failed, probably because of the lack of understanding of the standards required. He said that the results of this report would most likely prompt them to improve next time around.
Makana Municipality scored G ratings for six out of seven of the performance areas, indicating a vague assessment that the municipality was non-compliant with the requirements or that they lacked the information.
Lucas said that this was identified as a weakness in the system, where non-compliance and no information are graded as the same.
He again clarified that the report reflected the assessment and lack of information, not the performance of the ground work.
Lucas added that this is one of the teething problems of the Green Drop assessment as it is still in its early stages.
Grocott’s Mail visited Belmont Valley WW works and spoke to Gary Everton, the superintendent of the plant who said that their WW works are above standard.
He said that the WW undergoes a purification process and that the treatment plant is designed to transport and treat 5.4 mega-litres of WW per day and currently they are pushing seven plus mega-litres per day.
“Although we are overloaded we are still producing quality water,” Everton said. Belmont Valley plant operator, Welcome Mkolo took a glass of treated water from the plant and compared it with a glass of tap water, revealing that they looked and smelled similar, confirming that the quality of the water was of a high standard.
Institute for Environmental Biotechnology Research water engineer at Rhodes, Dave Render said, “You can go to hundreds of inlet works and they are not better than this one.”
He added that the workers are proud of their work and they would not be proud if the performance of the WW works was not up to standard.
Near the Belmont Valley WW works, Grocott’s Mail observed a river running past Matthew Street near Fort England carrying raw sewage which could be identified by a black substance below the water surface.
Render explained that the sewage water came from overflowing blocked sewage drains which flows straight into the river.
Render said that this is the start of the Bloukrans River which becomes the Kowie River that flows down to Port Alfred.
According to Everton, the final treated waste water from the plant runs into the Kowie River which dilutes the raw sewage water, therefore “improving the water quality” further downstream.
Albany Museum Freshwater entomologist, Ferdy de Moor, said in previous tests that he has conducted the treated water from the plant has definitely improved the water quality.
