Water Crisis in Hammanskraal and Green Drop Watch Report
The water crisis in Hammanskraal is due to inadequate waste water treatment facilities, leading to pollution of water sources and a cholera outbreak. The Green Drop Watch Report highlights the critical conditions of municipal wastewater systems in South Africa, with many systems failing to meet standards and facing regulatory actions.
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HAMMANSKRAAL WATER AND WASTE WATER AND THE CHOLERA OUTBREAK 13 June 2023
BACKGROUND The Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works in Hammanskraal does not have sufficient capacity to deal with the amount of sewage flowing into it and has not been well-maintained for many years The inadequately effluent from the Rooiwal Waste Water (sewage) Treatment Works is polluting the Apies River which flows into the Leeukraal Dam from which water is abstracted by the City s Temba Water Treatment Works, which provides water to Hammanskraal residents The Temba Water Treatment Works is supposed to clean the raw water abstracted from the dam and treat it so that it is fit for human consumption However, the water in the dam is so polluted that the Temba Water Treatment Works is not able to treat the water such that is meets the required standards for drinking water. Hence the people of Hammanskraal have not been having a reliable or safe supply of drinking water for many years Over the years DWS has taken numerous regulatory actions (non-compliance notices and directives) against the City for it to stop the pollution of water resources in the area from its Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works. Since 2019, the Department has been engaged in legal action against the City for a court order to instruct the City to address the issue 2
GREEN DROP WATCH REPORT: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 2022 full Green Drop report released in April 2022 found 334 out of 850 (39%) municipal wastewater systems in 90 municipalities which are water services authorities (63% of the 144 water services authorities) to be in critical condition, receiving Green Drop scores of 30% and below In 2013, when the last Green Drop assessment report was done, 248 out of 824 (30%) municipal wastewater systems were in a critical condition, indicating a decline between 2103 and 2022 Following the release of the 2022 Green Drop report, the Department issued non-compliance notices to these 90 municipalities, requesting the municipalities to submit corrective action plans to address the shortcomings identified in the Green Drop report By March 2023, Department had received corrective action plans from municipalities for 168 of the 334 wastewater systems (i.e. a 50% response rate). 43 of the 90 municipalities requested support from the Department to develop corrective action plans By March 2023, only 34 of the 168 plans submitted to the department were being implemented, with the balance being in planning phase or no progress reported For those municipalities which did not submit corrective action plans, DWS has issued directives in terms of the National Water Act compelling them to submit such plans Criminal charges have been laid against some of the municipalities which have not submitted corrective action plans 3
DIRECTIVES ISSUES TO TSHWANE IN TERMS OF NATIONAL WATER ACT Name of WWTWs Enforcement action taken & date Date Issued Water Resources Klipgat WWTWs Directive Court Case in High Court Pretoria Criminal case opened 11-11-2016 Tolwane Baviaanspoort WWTWs Directive Court Case in High Court Pretoria 16-02-2018 Pienaars Sunderland Ridge WWTWs Directive Court Case in High Court Pretoria 11-011-2016 Hennops Directive Court Case in High Court Pretoria 08-03-2011 Apies Rooiwal WWTWs Directive 11-11-2016 Sandspruit Sundspruit WWTWs Pre- directive 09-11-2016 Soutpanspruit Rietgat WWTWs Pre-directive 11-11-2016 Apies Babelegi WWTWs Pre- directive 111-11-2016 Apies Temba WWTWs Pre-directive DWS is intending to issue Directive 27-09-2021 Roodeplaat dam Zeekoegat WWTWs 4
OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA It is possible that the cholera outbreak which started in Hammanskraal in Tshwane is related to the pollution of water sources in the area from the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works An investigation is underway into the source or sources of the cholera outbreak Technical teams from the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the provincial and national Department of Health as well as relevant municipalities are carrying out water quality tests at distribution points and at water treatment works in areas In Hammanskraal where people have become infected. Cholera has not yet been identified through the tests The WRC has also commissioned a verification of the DWS and CoT tests as well as independent tests, the results of which should be available shortly They are also engaged in tracking and tracing of infections It is important to note that cholera is not only spread through polluted water it is also spread through poor hygiene, eating contaminated food or by coming into contact with the faeces of an infected person To date, the original source of the cholera infection has not been located The City has warned the residents of Hammanskraal) not to drink the water from the Temba water treatment works (which is the water coming out of taps in Hammanskraal) and is supplying them with drinking water from tankers The water tankers abstract water from Magalies Water and Rand Water sources, which is compliant with drinking water standards 5 5
REPAIR AND UPGRADE OF ROOIWAL WWTW In the light of the cholera outbreak it is imperative that the repair and upgrade of the Rooiwal WWTW be dealt with as a matter of national urgency DWS does not have voted funds to provide to Metros for water and sanitation. Metropolitan municipalities are supposed to use a portion of their USDG grant to supplement their own budget allocations for water and sanitation DWS has estimated the cost of a full rehabilitation and upgrade of the Rooiwal WWTW over the next three financial years to be in the region of R4 billion The project can be implemented in stages, with an emphasis on work to stop or reduce the pollution from Rooiwal in the early stages The Mayor and the City have indicated that the City does not have the capacity on its own to address the sanitation challenges, nor does it have sufficient funds to address the challenges timeously on its own The Mayor has indicated that the City s SCM processes are corrupted 6
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE MINISTER AND THE MAYOR On 26 May the Minister and Mayor agreed that: 1. DWS and the City will partner together to jointly manage a project to fix the Rooiwal WWTW in Hammanskraal 2. Tshwane will contribute a portion of its USDG allocations (they will be seeking Council approval for R450 million to be approved over the MTEF) 3. National Treasury will be requested to supplement these allocations to enable the project to be fully implemented 4. A competent independent implementing agent will be appointed to manage implementation the DBSA 5. DWS and the City will form a joint technical steering committee to oversee the project 7
AGREEMENT BETWEEN NT, DWS AND TSHWANE OFFICIALS On 30 May the DG s of DWS and NT, the CM of Tshwane and other relevant officials agreed that: 1. There is a need to secure funding to fix and upgrade the Rooiwal WWTW 2. A financial task team consisting of NT, DWS, the City and DBSA must develop a financing plan for the project. Various options must be considered, including but not limited to, increasing the City s contribution from its USDG allocation, shifting funds from other grants, and DBSA loan finance 3. The first stage of the project will start using Tshwane s USDG money (possibly supplemented by DBSA loan or bridging finance) while the financial task team completes the financing plan for the whole project 4. The DWS City technical steering committee must become operational immediately 5. The technical steering committee must immediately initiate the process of appointing the DBSA as implementing agent 6. The technical steering committee must immediately oversee the development of detailed technical plans for the repairs and upgrades, including scoping the project stages and tender specifications for the first stage 7. The technical plans must ensure that the project is as economical and competitive as possible, including the implementing agent fees 8. The technical task team must develop high-level timeframes for the project as a whole and for the various stages 8
SHORT-TERM INTERVENTIONS (TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN PARALLEL) No Intervention Output Start Date End Date a) CoT to continue with mobile water tankering services for Hammerskraal residents, from designated water filling points, with regular testing of water provider from tankers. Water which meets drinking water standards is provided to residents of Hammankraal a) Already being implemented March 2024 1. b) Community structures to be requested to participate in structure with City to monitor tankers and testing of water from tankers b) To be put in place ASAP Install wastewater technology solutions at Rooiwal WWTW to treat sewerage and increase quality of discharged effluent into Apies River. Reduced E-coli levels of treated sewerage water which goes into the Apies River 2. Aug 2023 March 2024 Provision of an alternative drinking water source by Magalies Water for Hammanskraal through the emergency construction of a 30-40 Ml/day package-plant at Klipgaart WTW. The plant will provide drinking water in the Hammanskraal water distribution system. The Package Plant will be implemented in a phased approach with 10Ml/day at a time. The units will be in place starting from October 2023 at Klipgaart WTW. To improve water provision through piped system to all residents 3. July 2023 March 2024 9
REPAIR, REFURBISHMENTS AND UPGRADES OF ROOIWAL WWTW No. Description of Activity Outputs Start Date End Date PHASE 1: Acceleration of the completion of current project at Rooiwal WWTW which is at 68% completion To improve the quality of effluent from the WWTW that is being discharged into the Apies River Sep 2023 Nov 2024 1. PHASE 2: Upgrading of Roowall WWTW to add 50ML/day of waste water treatment capacity and de-silting of sludge at Leeukraal dam Oct 2024 June 2025 2. In turn, to enable the Temba WTW to function better and produce drinking quality water 3. PHASE 3: Upgrading of Roowaal WWTW by an additional capacity of 80Ml/day Jul 2024 Jun 2026 The current capacity of the Rooiwal WWTW is 250 ML/day. After Phase 2 and Phase 3 it will be 380 ML/day A work package will be added for repairs or refurbishment of Temba WTW to ensure that it is able to reliably treat water to the required quality once the pollution problem from Rooiwal has been addressed 10
THANK YOU 11
