Stonebridge residents have raised concerns about the stench coming from KwaMashu Water Treatment Works, situated in Stonebridge Drive.
A resident, Sheik Alijan, whose house is situated opposite the Water Treatment Works, said during the day there is a terrible stench “like gas in the air”. He claimed that two weeks ago the matter was reported to the city Health Department, who allegedly said nothing could be done about the issue as it is “nutrients that are causing the smell”. “The water used to be clear and blue but has now turned green and birds, ducks and geese no longer feed in the area. Trucks do not come to collect the sludge anymore. The incinerator does not work and the sludge is stockpiling on the premises, causing an unbearable stench. We are unable to breathe properly or even eat. It is embarrassing when we have guests. The community is calling for an environmental team to test the water to determine the cause of the stench. Previously, the municipality had sprays in the air, but not any more. Furthermore, we can see 7-8 floodlights that are lit 24 hours on-site. This is a waste of electricity especially at a time of loadshedding,” he said. Robert Beharilal, chairperson of the Phoenix Ratepayers’ Association, said, “There used to be a KwaMashu Waste Water Works Committee but that committee has been dissolved so now there is no input from the community. When the committee was in operation, whenever there was a problem they would attend to it immediately. We would like the committee to be back in operation.”
EThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson Mandla Nsele said, “The contract to remove sludge expired and temporary sludge removal contract was put in place. We are currently following Supply Chain Management processes in order to have a long-term tender in place. No future plans have been brought forward to refurbish the incinerator hence it will be down till such time proposals and plans to bring it back online are received. “There are no stockpiles onsite, the last visible stench causing stockpiles were removed in January 2020. The plant has not experienced any smells onsite since that time plus there is an odor control system in place. Also note that the plant is not dewatering any sludge which can be stockpiled onsite currently, the last time dewatering took place was in 2019 December. This means there can be no sludge that can be stockpiled onsite.
“The sprays are in place and are working. There are no flood lights onsite which are switched on. 24 hours staff per shift are required as per plant operations plan to check for all abnormalities and report to management daily hence making it impossible to leave flood lights on for 24 hours. No flood lights have been observed to be left on 24 hours such waste of power is not permitted. Committee forums in the form of CMF are still in place the last one was held in November 2019 where members of the community were present, but unfortunately due to Covid-19 regulations they had to be stopped temporarily up until such time it is safe to host meetings. “There is no stench and previously the Department of Water and Sanitation used to send staff on a monthly basis to take samples of the final effluent that ceased temporarily due to Covid-19. Water is also tested daily by our internal laboratory services.”
