Sewage has hit the fan (The Green Drop Report)Sewage has hit the fan (The Green Drop Report)

The much awaited Green Drop Report has finally been made public. I am not astounded by the report as I suspected the countries sewage systems to be highly inadequate. The official findings of the report are shocking and raises many questions. What would it take to raise public awareness of a smelly business,one the we tend to avoid at the first smell of bad odour.

Wastewater Treatment Plant

The findings of the green Drop Report:

1. Of the 449 treatment plants assessed,7% were classified as excellently managed,and 38% scored between 50% and 89% when measured against the set criteria.
2. Only 449 of the 852 municipalities in the country were assessed because many did not “adhere to the call”for assessment,weren’t “sufficiently confident”to be tested,or were unable to provide enough information.
3. 45% of the plants assessed scored above 50%.
4. One of the plants not assessed was that of the Madibeng Municipality in North West. Raw sewage is flowing into the Hartbeesport Dam,which falls under the municipality’s jurisdiction. (The municipality’s water and sanitation head,Lerato Sabidi,said the department “knows why we could not comply”.)

Dr Mark Graham,a water scientist who has extensively tested pollution in South African rivers,said the Green Drop report and the state of the country’s sewage systems was “critical”. He said the management of sewage was “intermediately linked”to the quality of the country’s drinking water and that unless the situation was remedied,drinking water quality would ultimately be affected.

Source:Times live

South Africa would need about R23-billion to prevent the country’s wastewater treatment works from collapsing,Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Thursday,at the launch of the long-awaited ‘Green Drop’report.