Question NW1000 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation

Reply:

(1)(a)The refurbishment of Groblersdal Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) within Sekhukhune District Municipality (DM) was completed in December 2015, however; the practical commissioning of the refurbished work was done during June 2016 and the waste water treatment plan is functional. The waste water treatment occasionally experience breakdown of aerobic mixer due to the plant being overloaded and the contractor who was refurbishing the plant attended to the breakdown as part of retention period.

(1)(b) My Department did not take steps in assisting with completion since both the Sekhukhune DM and Lepelle Northern Water Board did complete the refurbishment work, and is operational. The practical commission was however done in June 2016.

(1)(c) My Department Regional Office: Limpopo visited Groblersdal Waste Water Treatment Works on 10 May 2017 and the following findings were made:

• Lepelle Northern Water is responsible for the operation of the WWTW. Both the old and the new plant are operated simultaneously. The works was operational however signs of overflow were observed.  According to the official present, this was due to the influx of effluent from the pump station which only started operating on 08 May 2017.
• A site inspection was also conducted at the pump station which pumps sewerage into the Groblersdal WWTW, which is located in the outskirts of the industrial area. The pump station is managed by Sekhukhune DM and it was not operational for the last 6 months. During the time when it was non-operational, sewage from town was pumped to the pump station via a channel, however the effluent did not reach the WWTW. This led to the effluent being diverted into an unlined emergency pond at the back of the pump station, which may possibly lead to surface and groundwater pollution. Discussions between Lepelle Northern Water and Sekhukhune DM took place, however the problem persisted. According to the official from Lepelle Northern Water the pump station started operating on Monday, 08 May 2017. A Section 19 Notice under the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998 will be issued to the Sekhukhune DM, as the responsible authority for operation and maintenance of the pump station.

(2) Yes, my Department monitors the quality of the water in the Olifants River. Refer to the Table 1 below which is the summary of the effluent quality discharged by Groblersdal Wastewater Treatment works, downstream and upstream of the Works:

Table 1

Sampling Dates	Variables	General Limits	Upstream of WWTW	Downstream of WWTW
January 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8 (mg/l)	8.3 0.622(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)	8.5 0.572(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)
April 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.6 0.595(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)
June 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.4 1.352(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)	8.2 1.269(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)
July 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.1 1.221(mg/l) 0.121(mg/l)
August 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.3 0.804(mg/l) 0.03(mg/l)	7.8 1.168(mg/l) 0.021(mg/l)
September 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.4 0.783(mg/l) 0.122(mg/l)
October 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.1 3.411(mg/l) 0.01(mg/l)
December 2016	pH-Diss-Water NO3+NO2-N-Diss-Water PO4-P-Diss-Water	5.5-9.5 15(mg/l) 8(mg/l)	8.4 0.29(mg/l) 0.046(mg/l)

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