Johannesburg Water Aquatic Monitoring

Project Overview

Johannesburg Water SOC Ltd. (Johannesburg Water) is mandated to provide water and sanitation services to the residents of Johannesburg. It supplies water and sanitation services to an area stretching from Orange Farm in the south of Johannesburg, to Midrand in the north, Roodepoort in the west, and Alexandra in the east. It operates in six regions with 10 network depots and six wastewater treatment plants.

Project Role

Knight Piésold was appointed by Johannesburg Water to conduct aquatic monitoring at six wastewater treatment works (WWTW) within the Gauteng area. The aquatic monitoring forms part of the compliance conditions with their water use license from the Department of Water and Sanitation, as their final effluent is discharged into the receiving aquatic environment. The water use license conditions require aquatic monitoring to be conducted to determine any possible impact on the receiving environment from the final effluent release. The conditions include:

• Bi-monthly aquatic toxicology analysis of all monitoring points including the final effluent
• Bi-annual aquatic bio-monitoring of all upstream and downstream monitoring points that includes:
  • Macro invertebrates (SASS v5)
  • Integrated habitat assessment
  • Diatom sampling and analysis
  • Invertebrate health assessment
  • Bio-accumulation testing