Pretoria – Sewer contamination at the Leeuwkraal Dam has led to the shutdown of the City of Tshwane’s Temba Water Treatment Works (TWTW), which supplies water to Hammanskraal and surrounding areas.
The TWTW sources its raw water from the Leeuwkraal Dam for treatment to potable standards.
The City said the TWTW was shut down on Monday, (7 October 2024), after the technicians discovered sewer contamination at the Leeuwkraal Dam.
“Pumping had to stop to avoid supplying poor water quality to our consumers,” the City said.
The challenges were caused by a fire that gutted the Pyramid Substation on 2 October 2024, leaving the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works (RWWTW) without electricity.
The plant had to temporarily cease operations and, consequently, discharged untreated sewage into the Apies River, which runs through to the Leeuwkraal Dam.
In the interim, the City said a team of scientists was monitoring the performance of the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Works to ensure that it complies with the required effluent standards.
These standards, mandated by strict regulatory requirements, include limits on Chemical Oxygen Demand, Total Suspended Solids, Nitrate, Phosphate, Ammonia, Eco-line, and residual chlorine, which must be consistently met by the plant.
The City of Tshwane on Tuesday, (15 October 2024), said the TWTW would remain shut pending the improvement of the water quality from the Leeuwkraal Dam.
The City said it will continue to provide roaming water tankers to residents until the situation normalises.
“There are residents that have alleged that some water tankers were being channeled to ‘connected’ people and, as a result, some communities don’t receive water through the tankers,” the City said.
“Furthermore, some have alleged that they’re being forced to pay to receive water.”
The City said contracted service providers were delivering water for free, and residents didn’t have to pay for it.
Initially, the City committed that the pumping of water would resume within seven days, however, this is dependent on the outcome of the laboratory test results.
The City’s laboratory team, which took raw water samples from the TWTW for tests, is expected to release the results by the end of this week.
“Residents will be kept updated as and when there are new developments,” the City said.
“The city apologises for the inconvenience that may have been caused as a result of this unplanned interruption.”
However, some residents complained that they had not had tap water since 7 October 2024.
