Heritage Cases

The Kwazakhele Main Sewer line, in its current form, does not provide adequate capacity to convey peak wet weather sewage outflow from the Kwazakhele catchment area to the wastewater treatment works (WWTW) at Fishwater Flats. This has resulted in a number of failures, including surcharge and overflow from existing manholes and the collapse of sections of the pipeline, in particular in Murdoch Street and under Grahamstown Road. In addition to being insufficient to accommodate stormwater influxes, the pipeline is unable to meet the demand of the Kwazakhele area, which has undergone significant growth since the pipeline was installed. In order to prevent future disastrous failures, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) has implemented an augmentation programme. This has the dual purpose of increasing the capacity of the existing sewerage system and rehabilitating the system. Phases 1 and 2 of the augmentation programme have been completed. These included the construction of a permanent bypass sewer to convey the peak dry weather flows from the Kwazakhele Catchment around privately owned land (on which the Tenneco Automotive Industrial site was located). In addition, rehabilitation of the existing sewer under Grahamstown Road, down Murdoch Street and through the Tenneco Automotive site, has been undertaken. Phase 3 of the augmentation programme will comprise the construction / extension of the bypass all the way to the Fishwater Flats WWTW. This will require the installation of a 950 m long, 700 mm diameter GRP sewer pipe from the northern boundary of the Tenneco Automotive site to the WWTW. Once inside the fence of the WWTW, the diameter of the pipe will be increased to 1 100 mm. Phase 4, which is the final phase of the augmentation programme, will comprise the rehabilitation of the existing sewer to Fishwater Flats WWTW, entailing the relining of the existing pipe. The section of pipeline under investigation will run from an existing manhole, located along Access Road, within the existing foulwater servitude located adjacent to Grahamstown Road, crossing beneath the John Tallent Road (MR 443) and terminating at a connection point within the Fishwater Flats WWTW.