daniel chigunwe
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
BEITBRIDGE Municipality has announced plans to upgrade its sewer reticulation infrastructure to meet the projected growth of the town.
Town Clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola, said the border town got a boost when Government constructed a modern sewage dam and what is left is to expand the sewer reticulation infrastructure to meet the expected growth of the town.
Through the US$300 million border upgrade project, Government and its partner, Zimborders Consortium, have constructed a new sewage oxidation dam which is part of the expansion of the sewer reticulation infrastructure.
The sewage oxidation dam, a 1,4 million litre water reservoir, an animal plant and quarantine centre, 220 houses and flats for civil servants and a fire station are major projects meant to improve service delivery. Prior to the latest development, the local authority had been struggling to address water and sewer reticulation challenges.
At some point, the local authority was taken to court by the Environmental Management Agency for failing to manage the sewer system as pipe bursts were common.
“Due to the expansion of the town, sewage ponds are becoming smaller or inadequate. The new pond has eased pressure but we still need to expand the existing ponds or build completely new ones at another site to meet the demands of a growing population,” said Mr Ramakgapola.
The town has an estimated population of over 70 000 people and another 15 000 pass through the border daily. Most residents have been relying on boreholes and septic tanks hence the need to expand the water and sewer reticulation to service all residents.
Former Beitbridge Mayor Councillor Munyaradzi Chitsunge said recently that the construction of the sewage oxidation dam, which has since been handed over to the Government, would go a long way in addressing perennial service delivery challenges in the town.
Dr Clement Chipenda who chairs the South African research unit at the University of South Africa (Unisa) said the development of a state-of-the-art sewer system highlights the important milestone in National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
“This is a commitment to an improvement in infrastructure development, investment and expansion in critical areas particularly water and sanitation as well as social amenities,” he said.
Oxidation ponds are natural methods of waste treatment and use a series of primary (anaerobic), secondary (facultative) and tertiary (aerobic ponds). Since they are natural, they do not consume energy in terms of pumping and aeration requirements. The energy saved can be used in other productive sectors of the economy.
The method is environmentally friendly with a minimal carbon footprint and in some instances, sludge can be dried to make manure.
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