01 Dec 2022

 Most of Jwaneng’s waste water pipes often fail due to constant power cuts and waste disposal indiscipline by members of the public.

  This is according to the Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) project engineer for the town’s waste water pump station refurbishment, Mr Kenosi Mochotlhi.

“Frequent power failures, whether planned or emergency are one of the major factors that affect our pump stations. If power cuts take too long it leads to a lot of sewage accumulating in our pumps and therefore spillage later. Solids in the sewer system also affect flow as it blocks lines,” he told a Jwaneng council meeting recently.

Mr Mochotlhi also decried violation of trade effluent treatment regulations by shopping complexes and restaurant owners who allowed ingress of fats from their businesses into the sewage system.

He said Jwaneng sewer system, consisting of 61 pump stations, a vacuum station and treatment ponds, was initially installed with submersible pumps.

The pumps, Mr Mochotlhi said, functioned well provided there was not too much foreign matter in the system.“Unfortunately, we have a challenge of too much foreign matter in Jwaneng. Such includes even old tyres and clothes,” he said.

Mr Mochotlhi said 31 submersible pump stations had since been replaced with surface ones which were more robust and easy to unblock.

Council heard that the water pumps refurbishment project  commenced in January last year and was supposed to have been completed within six months.

The project ran into delays due to late equipment delivery and movement restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Mochotlhi said.

Saying the project was currently 95 per cent complete, he added that further delays resulted from the late detection of challenges such as damaged water pipes.

 That also resulted in cost escalation as the scope of work had to be changed, explained .Mr Mochotlhi.

 He said the most problematic areas in the sewer line were at units two, six and five as they initially did not have pumps, leading to accumulation of solids in the sumps.

Mr Mochotlhi said WUC planned to intensify public education on proper waste disposal, conduct routine inspections, dislodging and maintenance of pumps.

However, he said the corporation was short of funds to equip the sewer lines with a telemetry, which would allow them to monitor all the pumps from a central point.

  Meanwhile, Mr Mochotlhi has appealed to Jwaneng residents to pay their water bills saying the town alone owed about P20 million. ENDS