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Cape Town – The city has blamed excessive fats in the sewer system for sewage flowing onto Desraye Auret’s Table View property, the story of which was published in Argus last Wednesday.
A team from the city visited Auret’s home in Sunridge on the day the Argus published their story of the city’s lack of action because of their longstanding sewage complaints.
Mayco water and waste member Xanthea Limberg said the city had carried out an inspection of the property and municipal sewers in the area.
She said, “The inspection included a CCTV camera inspection and found excessive grease in the sewers.
“To combat these excessive grease in the sewers, the city will be running a cleaning process that uses a grease remover. After this cleaning process, regular checks are carried out in the area. “
Limberg denied that the problem was caused by developments in the area that put pressure on the already poor sewage system in the area, as claimed by Auret.
She was assisted by Mayian Spatial Planning and Environment Member Marian Nieuwoudt, who said: “Developments will only be approved if there is sufficient capacity in the WWTW and any unallocated spare capacity has been exhausted.
“No new developments will be supported until the WWTW capacity is expanded. However, there are latent land use rights in the area that have been approved in the past, so construction will continue to be felt in these areas. “
The city said in a statement: “In general, the majority of congestion in the city, including in the table view area, is caused by the abuse of the sewer system as well as the accumulation of cooking fat / oil in the sewer system.
“When these are poured or flushed into the sink and drain, they harden and build up on the inside of the sewer pipes. They act like glue and attract rags, hair, paper and other residues. “
Regarding a permanent solution with a check valve, as advocated by Auret, the city said: “A check valve is not always a preferable intervention. It depends on the root cause of the incidents. The disadvantage of an in-line check valve is that it blocks the sewer if the facility needs to push its equipment down the sewer.
“If other interventions can solve the problem, they are generally prioritized.”
Commenting on the visit to the city, Auret said: “I am still not satisfied with the procedure so far as I believe that a one-way valve is the solution that will prevent further clogging of the sewer system from spilling back onto my property.
“I have no faith in the city’s services and the promise to maintain the sewer. It’s happened too often in the past, I’m the one who’s left with the mess. However, I appreciate that they are coming out. “
Cape Argus
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