Buccleuch residents Vivienne, Andrew, Deon, Dee, Irwin (Riverwatch), Davy and two representatives from the Dept of Environmental Health spent Friday morning tracking the source of the Jukskei river pollution. The group started early in the morning and ran a number of water tests from just beyond Fife Road right through to the top of Alex. Crucially, the group identified the primary problem.

Thank you to BSC who initiated the River project through Vivienne Busse. You can find out more about BSC at buccleuch.org or on their Facebook page.

The water coming into Alex is (relatively) clean, but two large culverts in the middle of Alex are pouring sewage effluent into the river. By the time the water reaches the Marlboro Drive bridge there are still signs of floating sewage (flocculate). This is making its way down to Buccleuch and settling as sludge - the action of bacteria breaking down the sludge is what causes the terrible smell.

What can be done:
The group discussed what can be done within Buccleuch to alleviate the problem, and received valuable advice from Irwin. Irwin, who is a micro-biologist and prior to retirement headed the 3M Pharmaceutical Division, explained that the only way to address this is to fix the problem at source. There is effectively nothing one can do once the effluent has entered the river system.

Fortunately when the rains come it will clear much of the sludge and this will alleviate the smell.

There is also an Expanded Public Works Programme in operation at the culverts in Alex, but the workers appeared to be simply clearing plastic refuse as it flows into the Jukskei. It was not immediately ascertainable if there is a project in place to address the root sewage problem.

Next steps:

Irwin will be producing a report for the group, and Vivienne will coordinate the River project team to take the matter further.

The local government representatives who accompanied the group were supportive and have agreed to maintain contact. They will report the problems up through their structures and will help identify other departments and contacts to approach.
Vivienne's team will also approach our local councillor, and will investigate if there are any Alexandra groups it can coordinate with. The problem in Alex is much more significant and problematic on a daily basis. If the Buccleuch team can assist Alex residents to address the issue it will directly help our own village.

No doubt fixing this situation is going to be a challenge. The problem is complex and arises from a number of causes including poor and failing infrastructure, historical development priorities etc. Fixing them is going to be tough - there are many competing needs and we will need to work hard to have this issue prioritised. Fortunately, through the efforts and commitment of Vivienne we have made a good start.

Your support as a community will also help - if you can assist in any way please let the group know either via info@buccleuch.org or info@brace.co.za (BRACe will pass on your messages). You can also participate via Vivienne's Jukskei WhatsApp group as well as the BRACe and BSC Facebook groups.

Image: the image used above is a generic Google image (with appropriate usage rights).