Septic tank at school causes sewage spills
A SEPTIC tank, which is too small in capacity, is overflowing at Rooirand Primary School in Barkly West, causing raw sewage to leak into the school yard as well as into the homes of residents in Kitso Street.
The chairperson of the project steering committee, Tebogo Raadt, said the contractor was currently paying the Dikgatlong Municipality to manually clear the drain on a weekly basis with the use of a honey sucker.
“The septic tank does not have sufficient capacity even though it was built according to the specifications. It has to be drained at least once a week.
“The engineering consultants are not able to install another septic tank or replace the existing one with a bigger tank as they do not have the budget for it.
“The contractor is paying the municipality out of his own pocket at a cost of R8 000 per call-out. Sometimes there is a waiting list as they have to unblock other areas and it depends on who pays them first before they come to the site.”
Raadt stated that the school could accommodate up to 1 000 pupils as well as staff and educators.
“Construction is still ongoing although an agreement was reached to allow pupils to attend school in the meantime. The school is not functioning at full capacity, but once it is, the sewage leak will be much worse. There are 30 toilets and they cannot flush if they are used simultaneously because the water pipe is too narrow. A bigger water pipe still needs to be connected to solve the water problem. It is a complete disaster and a major health hazard ”
He added that an extension had to be granted to complete the project.
“Construction is about 98 percent complete while the soccer field still needs to be constructed and painting and other touch-ups need to be done. The contractor is expecting to leave the site in the next three weeks.”
Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said they were aware of the infrastructure challenges at Rooirand Primary School.
“The civil engineer is busy with the resizing of the septic tank, since the tank gets filled within a week. The engineer will submit a report by May 29 regarding the extension and the costs involved. The report will advise if there is any party liable for the capacity design,” said Van der Merwe.
He added that the area surrounding the school did not have a sewage system.
“Hence a septic tank was built for the school and after the completion of the project the school will carry the cost of sucking up of the septic tank.”
Van der Merwe indicated that the school was meant to be connected with a 200 millimetre pipe to the main water line.
“However, the municipality does not allow the connection to be done by the contractor, it must be done by the municipality. An arrangement was made for the contractor to purchase the material, while municipal personnel will connect the school to the main line. Currently, the school is making use of a temporary connection of a 20 millimetre pipe.”
He stated that the completion date of the project was supposed to be May 4.
“However, an extension will be submitted as work was done out of the scope of the contract, including the resizing of the septic tank.”
Van der Merwe added that the site had not yet been officially handed over to the department.
“The contractor is still responsible for the site until such time that practical completion is achieved. There is also a fire connection which still needs to be executed as soon as we obtain approval from the local municipality.”