There was relief and joy on Wednesday when it was revealed that the sewage leaks on the western side of Gonubie Point had dried up and there were signs that the level of the river of sewage flowing into German Bay from the Gonubie Waste Water Treatment Plant had dropped by 10cm.
Gonubie resident Grant Driessel said the once-beautiful stream was now the “Gonubie Turdy”.
But six months after the plant broke down, and 18 days after Off Track reported on the disaster, the stream has changed from an opaque milky colour to a darker green, indicating possibly that the treatment of Gonubie and Mzamomhle’s sewage was starting again.
However, Buffalo City has declined to respond to queries about the situation.
Gonubie DA councillor Valerie Knoetze, the only voice of leadership in this environmental and public health emergency, has worked hard on the crisis since August when the plant failed.
She started asking for answers and updates.
“Only later did I get to meet the HOD [head of department Mkhuseli Nongongo] on site and have been visiting every week since [November 14],” she said.
By now something of an expert on the parts making up the whole, she said on Thursday: “Everything is still on track for next week.
“The sewage should stop running then and be something of the past.”
Asked if the water in the stream would be grey-treated and safe for discharge into the marine environment but not drinkable, she replied: “It will be so, I am told.”
If this comes to pass, she feels certain that BCM officials “will tell us”.
Even for the councillor, getting access to information about the source of the disaster has been a push.
She prefaced her comments about her latest visit with the words “I will see if they will allow me in”.
Retired engineer John Thompson, 82, who represented the Gonubie Estuary and Marine Community (Gem), said leaks from the pump stations on Ocean Way had been repaired “though debris was still evident”.
The discharge from the sewage works into the unnamed stream was reduced but still running into the ocean, where the Surfers Challenge runners will have to pass.
“At the sewage works, there is evidence of ongoing work with lots of excavation of soil and rock in the drainage area,” Thompson said.
“It was not possible to see what was going on inside the building.”
Daily Dispatch
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