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City tackles another collapsed sewer repair in Samora Machel

The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation team is busy repairing the seventh collapsed sewer in Samora Machel since the start of the 2023/2024 financial year. Repairs on the latest collapse in Steve Biko Street started mid-May and has only been possible with the support of City Law Enforcement ensuring safety of staff while this vital work takes place.

The City's Water and Sanitation Directorate is currently repairing two collapsed sewer pipelines in Samora Machel, bringing the total number of collapses in this area to seven for this financial year alone. The primary contributing factor for these recurring incidents is stubborn blockages in the sewer system due to illegal dumping of foreign items. In the most recent case, a 300mm sewer pipeline collapse occurred in April 2024 along Steve Biko Road. Following an initial assessment, it was thought to be another stubborn blockage, but as the team started jetting, it was soon confirmed to be a sewer collapse and was repaired. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"><img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Images%202/City%20tackles%20another%20collapsed%20sewer%20repair%20in%20Samora%20Machel%203.jpg" alt="" style="width:941px;" /></figure>This adds to the growing number of sewer collapses attended to in close proximity in a few months including:<ul><li>150mm sewer pipeline in Feroza Adam Road in May 2024:currently being repaired </li><li>225mm sewer pipeline in Lilian Ngoyi Road in May 2024: currently being repaired</li><li>225mm sewer pipeline at 4485 Lilian Ngoyi Road in July 2023: repair completed in September 2023</li><li>225mm sewer pipeline at 4623 Lillian Ngoyi Road in July 2023: repair completed in August 2023</li><li>Corner of Joe Slovo and Ruth Streets in August 2023: repair completed in October 2023</li><li>4473 Lillian Ngoyi Road in September 2023: repair completed in October 2023. </li></ul> City's proactive efforts Multiple sewer rehabilitation projects are planned for implementation in Samora Machel for the 2024/2025 financial year. This includes the sewer pipeline in Lilian Ngoyi, Hinsta kaPhalo, Joe Slovo, Steve Biko Drive and Helen Joseph Streets. In the meantime, the City has also held three focussed blitzes in the area, supported by various City directorates, including Water and Sanitation and Urban Waste Management. The aim has been to meaningfully educate residents that illegal dumping into the sewer pipes is a major contributor to overflows in the area, to help relieve service request backlogs and to call on residents to work with the City to clamp down on overflows, dumping, stormwater blockages etc. Residents can help reduce sewer blockages Some 101 service requests for sewer blockages have been logged in Samora Machel in this current financial year, compared to only 41 in the previous financial year (2022/2023). This has more than doubled the cost of unplanned repairs, which impedes on resources for planned maintenance. Reccurring blockages also compromise the durability of newly repaired sections. Residents are reminded that collectively, a change in waste disposal methods can turn the situation around significantly. By placing rags, wet wipes, newspapers, nappies and sanitary towels in a bin as opposed to flushing away or disposing of these in open manholes, blockages can be avoided. Small businesses removing construction rubble and others running food takeaways can clear oil, remove unwanted cutaways and other high volumes of waste generated in a more responsible manner. Unfortunately, if anything other than human waste and toilet paper enters the sewer system, flow is easily disrupted, ultimately leading to sewer blockages which are only resolved when the unwanted items are removed. Let's work together to keep our sewers clear 'The City's Water and Sanitation teams are working tirelessly to repair the most recent two sewer collapses in the shortest, safest time. 'Repairing collapsed sewers is often complex because of the nature of the work as various factors need to be considered such as the depth of the work that needs to take place below ground, other underground services, or the physical location of the repair, etc. 'The safety of our teams is also vital. They can only do these repairs with the support of security personnel because City staff have, unfortunately, become targets for criminals while at work delivering much needed services in communities. This, at times, means that it takes longer than planned to start doing repairs as security arrangements are made to ensure the safety of operational teams. 'If there is no behavioural change, the condition of the sewer network in Samora Machel will suffer continuous blockages, especially during the winter season when rain also seeps into the sewer network, increasing volumes unnecessarily. This is caused by another challenge with illegal stormwater-to-sewer connections compromising the sewer network. 'While the City is doing what it can to proactively and reactively help reduce sewer overflows, we depend on residents being mindful of how small day-to-day changes in discarding waste can make a huge impact on the quality of their immediate surroundings,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien. End

2024-06-19T22:00:00Z

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