Wilderness' Pirates Creek Resort fed up with smelly liquids

GEORGE NEWS - Constant sewage spills on their lawn, pooling between guest cottages and leaking into the Touws River, have the owners of Pirates Creek Resort outside Wilderness up in arms.

Feedback from the municipality suggests a faulty communication system and old infrastructure are to blame. Repair works to fix the problem is underway.

According to owner Sasha Buchanan, problems at the Anchorage Lane sewerage pump station severely affect their resort, with pools of liquid sewage often encountered between the guest cottages.

"These things usually happen overnight. It is absolutely horrid to wake up in the morning with the smell of sewage around the cottages. It is mortifying to explain to guests why this is happening," said Buchanan.

Apparently the pump station trips constantly, which means that the sewage spills over within Pirates Creek Resort. They have endured two spills in the last two weeks, the most recent on Thursday 11 August.

Pirates Creek Resort has suffered many cancellations due to sewerage issues affecting their premises.

The resort is situated next to the Touws River, and spills also pose a safety and health hazard in this regard. "Our concern is the fact that this is unfortunately a regular occurrence and has health and safety implications for our guests, as well as the river. The situation is alarming," said Buchanan.

Last year in December, during the school holidays, an E. coli outbreak occurred in the Touws River. Several holidaymakers could not swim or do water sports for some time. With the coming summer and holiday season this is a real worry for all who live near or next to the Touws River.

Acting Director of Civil Engineering Services Lionel Daniels said the municipality is aware of the problem at the Anchorage Lane pump station, which is caused by a faulty communication system.

"Clean-ups and disinfection did take place when the spills occurred as a standard procedure during a spillage," said Daniels. "The contractor is currently busy with the repair works on it.

The high-level system has been restored to activate pumps to start pumping, as well as the SMS system to inform personnel of any high levels to react to prevent overflows.

"The contractor is currently in the process of obtaining quotations for new electrical switchgear to replace the old infrastructure."

Smelly liquids seep from the drain onto the lawn.