We all know that Parkhurst is a great place to live. This is not only due to the small manageable houses, its great location and village atmosphere. One of the other major reasons is the actual environment within which Parkhurst is located. The trees, the clean streets, the parks within and surrounding the suburb, the removal of unsightly street signs - all this is part of the environment portfolio. So if you have any of these problems contact Tim Truluck.
 

Swop Your Old Globes for New Energy Savers

Eskom and City Power are running a programme whereby you can swop out your old incandescent lightbulbs for a new energy efficient compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) for FREE. CFLs will save about 75-80% of the electricity used by conventional bulbs.

However, like everything in life, there are some things to consider.

It is claimed that CFLs will last up to 5 times as long as conventional bulbs. They DON'T as it is dependent on how much you use them and the quality of the bulb. I find that they last about double - sometimes less if you buy cheap ones. Seeing that they cost a lot more, it is really the saving in electricity that makes up for their expense. Over a year, the lighting in my house would cost me around R1500 if I didn't use CFLs - I probably pay R400 a year.

The normal CFL can't be used on a dimmer switch.

The CFL needs to be disposed of properly. The best thing to do is to put the broken bulb in the packet from the new bulb and drop it off in the recucle bins when youi visit Woolworths or Pick n Pay.

The lighting from CFLs is a brighter "white" light. You can get ones that are corrected to give a light that resembles the yellower conventional bulbs, but you will have to buy these.

The swop out programme doesn't have much of a choice. You may still have to buy CFL bulbs to fit small covered lampshades or outside lights with covers.They have the following sizes in stock: bayonnette - 20 W in narrow and spiral shapes; screw in - 15 W in a spiral shape.

The swop out programme only has the standard size bulbs. If you need a smaller diameter bulb then you will have buy them (and they are more expensive than conventional sizes).

However, about 80% of our bulbs are the conventional size and you will still save quite a bit in swapping them out as well as the electricity saved over the next few years.

If you want to swop out your old bulbs for CFLs, you will need to remove all the old bulbs and place them carefully in a box or plastic packet. Really think about your lighting - I kept remembering forgotton lights in the garage, cupboards, storerooms, etc. You will need a copy of your ID and utility bill. Then you need to visit Mpho at the Parkhurst Rec Centre main entrance in 5th Ave (opposite the intersection with 13th St) at the following times until 25 July 2010:
Mon-Fri: 8am-5pm and Sat: 8am-2pm.

For those who are working and can't make it during the hours above, Mpho has said that will try to help you out. If you drop off a box or packet with your old bulbs, copy of your ID and utility bill and contact number with the security guard at the main gate to the Rec Centre in 13th St, she will work on replacing your bulbs during the day for you to collect on the way home that evening.

There are similar swop out venues at the Parkview Library, Victory Park Shopping Centre, Build It in Craighall Park, Rosebank Libabry and, soon, at the Spar in Craighall Park. You can swop your bulbs at these venues as well.

RECYCLING NOTES: Remember that Mondi collects paper and cardboard evenryt Wednesday. Plastic, metal, glass, old batteries, oil, garden refuse and general household junk can be taken to the Pikitup Recycling Site in Victory Park Rr near Pirates from 7am-5pm 7 days a week (get there early to avoid being turned away if they are full).
 

Pikitup's Recycling Pilot Project

Parkhurst is not part of Pikitup's recycling pilot project that starts on 7 September in the Waterval Depot collection area. We just miss out - our neighbours Greenside and Victory Park are included.

But this does not mean we can relax. We need to start thinking about how we can start recycling in our homes - using the Mondi waste paper bags, start seperating our waste and thinking about what we are doing in our homes before the Pikitup scheme reaches us in a year or so.

• Pikitup: Rubbish collection day in Parkhurst is every MONDAY. Please contact them on 011-712-5200 or www.pikitup.co.za for more info.
• Mondi Paper Pickup: Kerbside paper pick-ups every Wednesday.
• Linden Pikitup Site: The Linden depot (bizarely located in Greenside on Victory Park Rd near to Pirates Sports Club) is our nearest dump site for garden refuse, small amounts of rubble and household junk, buying compost and reycling centre for bottles and plastic.

Worm Farm

Tim Truluck started a worm farm in 2008. He did use one of the commercially available worm farms, but built his own using simple materials that are available from local hardware stores, supermarkets and a fishing shop (for the worms).

Click here to find out how to make your own worm farm

Pool Motors (Oct 07)

There have been some complaints about pool motors. Because our houses are so close together and pool motors are usually located alongside the house in the alley, noisy pool motors that run at inappropriate hours can be very annoying to neighbours. There are bylaws pertaining to pool motors and it is illegal to have noisy motors.What can you do about a noisy pump?

• Invest in a fibreglass pump housing. Fibreglass material seems to dampen the pump sound and is also used for generator cover boxes.

• Loud noises from your pump might indicate that the pump bearings need to be replaced. Get your pump are serviced at the same time.

• Run your pump for 6-12 hours during the day. This is when the sun is at its hottest and circulation in a swimming pool is crucial.

• Allow the timer to switch off for one hour during the day this assists the pool cleaner pattern and also rests the pump for a while.

• Make sure your timer does not run continuously this is not only bad for your pump, but it can also be unfair on your neighbours.

• Invest in a pump which runs quietly like the Pentair Wisperflo this is a much quieter pump.

• Plant shrubbery around your swimming pool pump this also assists in dampening the sound coming from your pump.

• Move your pump and filter to a better location this is possible by extending and re-routing piping.

• Line your pump with foam or Polystyrene, make sure you line the outermost sides, but not near the electrical box.

• Build a brick enclosure around your pump system, this can also be cladded to make it look better.

Parkhurst’s Dirty Little Secret (Jan 07)

I lived in 17th Street for 4 years and always wondered why certain houses halfway up the road were always on the market every couple of years or so. It was only when I started researching the history of the suburb, that I found out that not all the houses and parts of Parkhurst were created equally. There are good areas and bad areas and one of the bad areas are the houses lying over the now hidden Parkhurst Donga.

Underneath Parkhurst, there is a network of storm water drains that carry stormwater and anything dumped in the streets (like trash, old bottles, engine oil, swimming pool water, dog pooh, etc) to the Braamfontein Spruit. And underneath the water drainage channels, they also carry much of our sewerage down to the main sewerage pipe that runs along the western bank of the Spruit.

This system was started in the southern end of Parkhurst (ie Little Chelsea and the streets running up to about 16th Street) in 1930s and completed in the northern end (16-22 Streets) by the early 1950s when the suburb was finally fully developed.

50-70 years on and things have changed. The sewerage system has aged; trees have got bigger and are causing problems with their roots; more of the suburb has been concreted and paved which increases run-off; never ending building means sand and pebbles are carried into the system; and new granny flats and en suite bathrooms increase the waste water load. All this has meant that our underground water systems have become overloaded and degraded.

By far the worst offender in the Parkhurst pollution stakes is the infamous Parkhurst Donga. This donga runs diagonally for several kilometres from the intersection with the Braamfontein Spruit between 19th and 20th Streets where it crosses into Parktown North around 13th Street and then continues into Rosebank. Until it was canalised and eventually covered in the 1950s, it effectively cut off the northern third of Parkhurst from development.

The properties that straddled this donga were the last to sell in Parkhurst. The sites were difficult to develop as they were muddy and prone to flooding. The best example of these difficulties is evident at the Moth Hall on the corner of 16th /15th Streets and 2nd Avenue. The Moths were given 3 unsaleable stands to build a hall by the then township owner, African Realty Trust. The hall is built adjacent to the donga at an angle on the stands. Most of the digging for the foundation work was carried out by hand as the tractor that was used kept on sinking into the mud.

Eventually the donga was covered over by an expensive system of concrete decking, houses and roads were built over it and gardens planted on it. And now it has been forgotten. Or has it?

When I walked up the donga for a couple of kilometres with a caving friend 2 years ago, I saw 1st hand what is going on underground. In many cases, the stormwater run off has caused erosion and damage along with greater sewerage loads which essentially means that the waste water is being mixed with storm water and being dumped into the Braamfontein Spruit.

The further one goes in, the smellier and more fetid it becomes. By the time the waste water reaches the lower parts of Parkhurst, it is carrying a smelly mix of pulverised pooh and toilet paper. It is no wonder that we have a smelly river which has a highly polluted hotspot as it runs through Parkhurst.

In early 2007, one of the Parkhurst residents contacted me regarding an awful smell permeating through her house. An industrial cleaning company couldn't find anything wrong and suggested it was her dog poohs in the garden. The drains were flushed. Nothing worked. I took her to 5th Ave between 19th and 20th Streets where the donga is uncovered and she confirmed that it was the same smell that is in her house.

Other residents I have asked who live over the donga confirmed that they often have an unpleasant damp problem. I know that the Moth Hall floods every 3 years or so, and I think that if we were to get a lot of rain in over Parktown North / Rosebank area, the houses built over the donga would be in danger of flooding.

And I haven't even begun to talk about the para-psychological issues of living over running water… So be aware that not all of Parkhurst is desireable. I suppose theold adage of Let the Buyer Beware is still valid today.

Smelly Donga & River

A resident living next to the donga where it runs at the foot of her garden wrote the following:

“I live in 5th Ave between 19th and 20th Street by the storm drain. Thank you for all your hard work and concern. I really really do appreciate it. I have been trying for years, only once managing to get it sorted out, which lasted for about a year. The drain I am sad to say is still smelling - particularly in the afternoons. Some days are worse than others and it also depends which way the wind is blowing and in winter it tends to be slightly less pungent. As you know the sewerage pipe runs under the drain, and I found out years ago, that there was a pipe that had not been recorded that runs off to 20th Street. It should be on the record now as when they cleaned it, that is when the smell went away. I have reported so many times to the relevant people, that I am at a loss as to what to do know.”

Parkhurst is having problems with the enclosed donga that carries waste (i.e. sewerage) from Rosebank/Parktown North through Parkhurst (where we add our load) and into the main sewerage pipe that runs adjacent to the Braamfontein Spruit. A major sewerage leak was repaired earlier this year. But with densification in these suburbs, the system is too small and too old to cope.

The result is that it overflows into the section of the donga that is meant to carry water run-off from our streets. This feeds into the Braamfontein Spruit causing a major pollution problem.

For people with houses on the Spruit north of 19th Street and those that have houses directly over it this pollution is most unpleasant. An immune compromised friend who lives near the enclosed donga in 16th Street has had a terrible bout of ecoli infections and her dogs keep getting giardia (a very bad stomach bug).

The Craighall Park Animal Hospital is also reporting increased numbers of dogs with stomach problems. Many of these may have become infected after swimming in the Spruit especially at the 22nd Street river crossing across the concrete lintel that acts as a footbridge. The spill is only about 50 m upstream from there.

I also shudder to think what is happening to the religious groups who use the Spruit on Sundays for baptisms and water collected there for other rituals.

The upshot of this is that we are trying to put together an investigative team to try and sort out the problem with the various departments in the Municipality.

We already have several letters of complaints from those on the river who are affected by the smell and fumes. Please contact us if any of you who live in houses above or near the enclosed donga are suffering from mysterious infections. Or if your dog or child has become ill after coming in contact with the water in the Spruit.

From the 1952 aerial photo, where the donga was clearly in the process of being canalised, I have identified the following properties that lie over or near the donga. A hi-res version of this aerial photo is available on the www.parkhurst.org.za website for you to look at.

13th St: 145-147.
14th St: 138-178 & 131-145.
15th St: 126-136 & 121-123.
16th St: 104-114 & 97-109.
17th St: 92-100 & 77-85.
18th St: 64-70 & 45-53.
19th St: 1-41 & 22-50.
20th St: 2-22

Kleen Bin (Mar 06)

Kleen Bin was started in Cape Town in 1997 when they first got their 240 litre wheely bins. As we are starting to find out, a year after it was introduced here, the bins are difficult to clean properly (especially the inside), the lids and wheels fall off, they facilitate the breeding of maggots and flies, and they usually smell. Giving it a rinse out is not enough, and tipping the foul smelling sludge into the road or the garden is not very hygienic.

Enter Kleen Bin from Cape Town who have an elegant solution to the maintenance and cleaning of our bins. They have established a franchise in Joburg and this is what they do:
- After the bins have been emptied by Pikitup, they drive around the suburb and clean your bin;
- They use a mobile cleaning rig which catches all the grunge and water from the cleaning. They get right inside the bin scraping and scrubbing all the way to the bottom;
- They repair the lids and wheels;
- Best of all, they spray a fly repelling, clean smelling, disinfectant all over and inside the bin;
- You just simply wheel the clean smelling bin back inside when you get home from work like you used to do. No cleaning the bin in the dark (or leaving it to fester til the next day) and even gardeners like the idea as they also hate cleaning out the bin. And you don't have foul smelling toxic sludge lying around in your back yard waiting for you, the kids and the pets to track inside the house.

It costs R54.72 (incl) a month which works out at R12.63 a week over the year - the price of a café latte or a Weekly Mail and Guardian. If you have a second bin they will clean it for R11.40/ week. And if you only want it cleaned every 2nd week, that is no problem. Kleen Bin will also donate R1 a bin a month to the Parkhurst Village Residents Association for all Parkhurst bins.

Give them a call on 0860-177-177 to arrange a free bin cleaning and for more info. You can also visit their website on www.kleenbin.co.za.
 

Up The Pole - Ivy Pests (Dec 05)
 

I have noticed that many of the sidewalks have beds of ivy growing on them. Apart from the fact that they hide rubbish and make a great place for rats to live, they are low maintenance and look quite nice. Unfortunately ivy is a creeper that loves light and it often spreads onto the street trees and poles.

It may look nice to have ivy climbing up a tree or a pole, but the general consensus is that it is bad for trees and should certainly be removed from street poles carrying electricity or telephone wires.

Ivy doesn't actually harm the tree - they can grow symbiotically together. Ivy does, however, hide any disease that may infect the tree. If you catch the disease early enough you can treat the tree and prolong its life. If the tree starts to die, it will rot, become weak and may come crashing down on your car or property.

The other main problem with ivy is that it increases the weight and bulk of the tree. When the wind blows, the extra weight and bulk increase the wind sheer factor and the tree stands a better chance of being blown over or having tree limbs blown down.

What you can do? While City Parks should be removing ivy from the trees, they have enough on their plate. The best way to remove ivy from the top of a tree or pole is to cut around the trunk or pole at about shoulder height. The ivy above will then turn brown and be easy to pull down.