Keep Sewers Running Smoothly!

[Liesel James]

THE City of Cape Town incurs a cost of around R60 million a year to clear sewer blockages.

As it has a limited budget which is divided according to needs, the money spent on repairing

and clearing blockages could rather be spent on other community requirements.

Blockages are generally caused by foreign objects such as sheepskin, sheep skull, shoes,

clothing, cutlery, newspapers, sanitary towels, disposable nappies, tyres andmanymore

items that are disposed of via toilets and manholes into the sewer on a daily basis.

Foreign objects are either flushed or dumped deliberately into the sewer system.

This causes the system to block because it was not designed for these items, resulting

in sewage overflowing into the streets and illness caused by waterborne diseases due to

exposure to such unhealthy environments.

This also, inevitably, causes damage to municipal infrastructure. In an attempt to reduce

or eliminate future blockages, the

City’s Water Pollution Control Department encourages residents to ensure that all foreign

objects are disposed of in refuse bins and skips.

To ensure that sewage systems run without a glitch, report broken and missing gully

grids, rodding eyes and manhole covers as well as also blocked and overflowing sewers

and water pollution to the City’s call centre on 0860 10 30 89; via SMS to 31373 or send an

e-mail to [e-mail].

This article was published by People's Post on the 6th of December 2011.