City commited to improving the quality of water supply
06 August 2019
The City of Tshwane has noted the concern raised by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) about the water supplied to the Hammanskraal area. The City had continued engagements with the SAHRC and the National Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) regarding the quality of water supply to the Hammanskraal area.
“It goes without saying that the supply of good quality water to the Hammanskraal community remains a priority for the City. We have been putting measures to improve the water quality and will continue to do so,” said the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Utility Services (MMC), Councillor (Cllr) Abel Tau.
The initial water quality complaints in the area related to taste, colour and odour. The City has implemented several measures to improve the operations of the existing water treatment plant while at the same time implementing upgrades by the construction of a new water treatment phase. The City has made significant strides in improving the quality of water supply in that the colour, odour and taste issues have been resolved.
“The upgrades at the water treatment plant include the installation of advanced treatment processes such as Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filters as well as ozone dosing system which are suited to treat water from the raw water source for the Temba WTP. The upgraded water treatment plant is currently undergoing the final commissioning stage, with the tie-in of the existing and the new phase of the plant having been concluded during July 2019. This ensures that all the water passes through the Ozone treatment and GAC filters which will improve the final water quality from the upgraded WTP,” indicated Cllr Tau.
The parameters that continue to pose a challenge for the water treatment plant are nitrogen and phosphate. These parameters are primarily as a result of the poor raw water quality at the Leeukraal Dam that supplies the Temba Water Treatment plant. The nitrogen and phosphate emanates from the effluent of the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) which discharges into the Apies river and flows into the Leeukraal Dam.
The non-compliance in nitrogen and phosphate in the final discharge from the Rooiwal WWTW is due to organic and hydraulic overloading of the plant. The City has implemented several measures to improve the operation of the WWTW. Some of these measures include the dredging of the maturation ponds and the refurbishment of the belt filter presses amongst several other interventions. These measures will improve the management of the excessive sludge that is produced due to the organic overloading of the WWTW.
The nitrogen and phosphate non-compliances will however only be resolved by a complete upgrade and extension of the Rooiwal WWTW to adequately address the organic and hydraulic overload. The appointment of a contractor for phase 1 of the WWTW upgrade is at an advanced stage.
“We will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders regarding this matter. As things stand, we have a meeting scheduled for Monday, 12 August 2019, between the City, SAHRC and DWS, to deliberate on improving the quality of water in Hammanskraal,” concluded Cllr Tau.
Media enquiries:
MMC for Utility Services, Cllr Abel Tau
078 186 1312
Issued by Communication, Marketing and Events Department.