Cape Town - Sewerage spills at several Cape Town beaches recently come as no surprise, as regular maintenance at pump stations and the replacement of ageing infrastructure would’ve prevented any leakages, an expert and residents claim.
Strand beach and Small Bay in Blaauwberg were reopened on Tuesday after being closed on Sunday along with Fish Hoek beach due to a sewage spill.
The main bathing section at Fish Hoek between the lifeguard station and Jager Walk remains temporarily closed.
“This is a precaution as contact with the water could result in potential gastro-intestinal issues. Any person who enters the water does so at their own risk,” the City said.
“The Deep Blue section of Strand beach was closed due to an electrical fault at the pump station, but the issue has since been resolved. Small Bay was closed due to a damaged sewer pipe.
That section was isolated inside the manhole. Sewer flow is being diverted by means of a mobile pump running 24 hours. Spillage on to the beach is contained. Repairs to the damaged section will be resolved depending on the tide timetable,” the City said.
Fish Hoek Valley Ratepayers and Residents Association said it was not the first time the beach had to be closed.
Updating residents on their media platforms, the association said it was informed that the latest closure was due to sewage overflow and a sewer pipe blocked by plastic and other materials.
Association chairperson, Brian Youngblood, said the stormwater reticulation system needed to be redesigned.
Residents also needed to be educated to separate flushable items from solid wastes for rubbish collection.
Youngblood also expressed concern about fishing.
“If the trekker fishermen sell fish caught from our bay and the health inspectors test appropriately, their livelihood would be negatively affected as the fish cannot be sold.”
Leslie Petrik, Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Natural Sciences in the department of chemistry at UWC, said while load shedding was adding to the City’s woes, the challenges were not new.
“One would have expected a forward-thinking City to have installed backup power or made plans to isolate the pumps and other sewerage related infrastructure from power outages.
Surely our critical infrastructure needs to be safeguarded from outages? “Our sewerage infrastructure is ageing. It needs maintenance ... it is part of normal service delivery planning.
Once again there seems to be a dearth of City planning where sewage spills have become a near daily occurrence.
Good city governance is not just about growth, but about common sense maintenance.”
Petrik stressed that the constant spike in the city’s population could not be used as an excuse, as this trend has been evident for years.
“Where have our city planners been? Our infrastructure is being strained to the limit by the growing volume of sewage and waste being generated.
These challenges have impacted on the City’s ability to respond effectively with adequate service delivery in response to the population trends.
“We still sit with the huge problem of widespread sewage contamination.
This problem needs addressing in a manner that limits the burden of disease caused by poor sanitation.
“The City does fairly regular microbial testing and puts up notices when bacterial counts are excessive.
The trouble is the public do not know when the signage was erected and whether the beach has been deemed to be safe again or not.”
Cape Times