City to spend big on Potsdam poo plant

The City is set to spend over R5 billion on the upgrade of the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works.

At the sod-turning event held at the sewage plant last Wednesday, mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said that this project would be the second biggest one in Cape Town after the MyCiTi rollout to Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain.

R5.2 billion would be spent over the coming years at Potsdam, while the MyCiTi rollout to Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain cost R7 billion, he said.

“It’s a good day for the hundreds and thousands of residents who live here in the north-west coast of our City. For many years, this plant has operated to the very limit of its capacity. That has had terrible implications for residents living around here.

“There have also been profound economic implications because this area used to be the fastest growing parts of the City up the coast. Much of that development has had to be paused because this has been the primary constraint on bulk infrastructure on this part of the city. So this is a very important day for the economy in this part of the city and Cape Town in general,” said Mr Hill-Lewis

According to Mr Lewis, the aim is to have the upgrades at the plant completed by the 2027, with operational trials starting in 2026.

The plant’s daily processing capacity will be doubled from 47 million litres to 100 million litres by the time of the project’s expected completion.

In March, the City started other major sewage-infrastructure upgrades in the Milnerton vicinity. These included the R430 million Montague Gardens bulk sewer rehabilitation, the R118 million Koeberg pump station upgrade, and long-term pump-station and pipe-replacement programmes (“Residents fear power-cut threat to sewers overhaul,” Tabletalk, April 26).

In the short term, steps would be taken to combat pollution in the Diep River, said mayoral committee member for water and sanitation Zahid Badroodien.

“We have just installed over 20 litter nets all along the Diep River. We are also making progress on critical maintenance work to improve treated effluent quality at Potsdam, including major cleaning work to maturation ponds and the re-engineering of natural reed beds to prevent pollution from reaching the Diep River,” he said.

Over the years, residents near the Potsdam plant have complained regularly about foul smells and sewage spills.

Last year, residents of Heron Waters and Ville Du Cap, a housing complex less than 2km away from the plant, said the City should move the plant if the upgrade did not go ahead (“Upgrade or move poo plant, say residents,” Tabletalk, March 16, 2022).

Heron Water resident Mary Stogel welcomed news of the upgrade, saying: “We have stuck it out for many years now. The smells get really unbearable and all of the other sewage-pipe-burst problems in Table View as a whole have been very concerning. However, I must say that recently the smells have not been bad. I don’t know if they are using new and better odour suppressants or what. But it’s good to see that the work is being done. Yes, it will take a long time like I have heard, but we just wanted something to be done about this.”

Ward councillor Joy Solomon said the upgrade had been a long time coming and it had been hard on residents.

“They have put up with a lot when the sludge piled up, the flies, the smells, being nauseous and not being able to open their windows. I must say that overall, the residents have been understanding and accommodating. We kept residents informed. We can’t blame the residents for complaining. They didn’t buy a house along the river for this smell. Things seem to be under control now because as we are standing here at the plant, there is no smell. Hopefully things stay this way. And I want to say to the residents that it’s finally happening and thank you for your patience.”