The good, the bad and the sewerage

Inspired and freaked out would describe me after today's trip to the Linksfield grasslands near the Jukskei river.

Learning about how much sewerage flows into the stormwater drain ( aka the Jukskei river) and how little the Johannesburg council/municipalities do to stop sewerage spills into the river is depressing. Spending time with a passionate activist was inspiring!

It seems that the Jo'burg municipality does not  maintain anything. Today I saw yet another pipe that leaks sewerage overflow into the Jukskei. The one that did leak sewerage a little futher upstream had been fixed. But another one has broken.

The broken pipe comes from a hospital that has drug resistant TB patients inside. This is a lethal incurable disease. What on earth does the sewerage from the hospital contain? How does it affect the Jukskei?

I also saw stumps of blue gum trees next to the Jukskei. The government's group, "Working for Water" had chopped down these trees next to the river because they were alien. This was in order to save water because alien vegetation uses a lot of water. But this good action (on the surface) has caused problems. The removal of the trees has saved ground water and rain water but this means there is more water in the Jukskei. This intensifies the seasonal flooding of the Jukskei that affects the township of Alex, when the river roars over the shacks built on the river banks.

Alien tree in river

Some alien blue gum trees were also dumped in the river by this do-good government group. These trees add debris into the river which is not good for it or the people upstream.

The good side of today was that my project groupies and I spent an entire day with Marian Laserson, passionate river defender and environmental activist. She is inspiring. Because of her the Edenvale Huddle Park golf course was proved to be a Wetland and saved from property developers. Her activism, and a newspaper that printed her stories, stopped the public owned golf land from being turned into a private development. One woman can make a difference.

The Jukskei river in the grasslands

I will end on that happy note.