WHILE shark spotting is a regular sight along the Cape’s coastlines, sewage watch will be a priority this festive season as authorities battle to keep beaches free from sewer spills.
While no beaches are closed in the province due to water contamination, concerns have been raised about the poor water quality at some “unsafe” recreational facilities.
A section of Muizenberg Beach, about 150 meters on either side of the Zandvlei Estuary mouth was reportedly reopened on Friday after it was closed due to the risk of high E.coli levels.
According to the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs, the decision to keep the section closed for four days this week was a “precautionary measure” as pollution was flowing into the Zandvlei estuary system.
Spokesperson Wouter Kriel blamed the pollution on the impact of load shedding on sewerage pump stations and infrastructure.
Earlier in the week, Mayco member for Environment, Eddie Andrews, said a spill at the Clifton Road sewer pump station reached the coastline via the Zandvlei river mouth.
On Friday, the City said the section between the Muizenberg Beach Pavilion and Sunrise Beach had now been reopened as the pump was operating normally.
However, recreational activities along the Milnerton Lagoon remained cancelled for most of the year due to high contamination.
An independent test by Makoya Amanzi on November 4 showed treated effluent containing 750 000 E Coli cfu/100ml, far exceeding the licence requirement of 1 000 cfu/100ml, was being discharged into the Diep River at an estimated rate of over 36 million litres per day.
Chairperson of the Milnerton Canoe Club Richard Allen said canoeing and other recreational activities were “officially closed” for the foreseeable future due to the contamination.
“As a business we continue to lose revenue and we cannot really afford to wait for another four years of promises by the City to sort this out. This is an environmental disaster and should be treated as an emergency.”
Allen said while signs warning swimmers not to enter the Lagoon mouth waters, nearby communities continued to swim there as they believed the water was “much warmer”.
“They don’t know any better – the water is shallow and calm. But what they don’t realise is that they are putting themselves at risk of diseases.”
In George, the Gwaing Beach River Mouth in George was reopened this week after it was closed for swimming on December 7 due to high E.coli levels.
Spokesperson for the municipality Chantel Edwards said the facility was re-opened after water sample tests showed that the contamination levels were acceptable.
However, the municipality’s investigation into the cause and source of the contamination was still continuing.
“There has been no impact on users and tourists,” said Edwards.
According to Kriel, a hydrocarbon spill along beaches in the Garden Route was also swiftly resolved, and authorities continued monitoring the situation.
“The Garden Route District Municipality will also be stepping up their water quality monitoring of recreational areas during this period, paying close attention due to the potential impacts of load shedding on the sewerage systems.“
Kriel also added that it issued a directive to the City of Cape Town to sort out the ongoing pollution at the Diep River Estuary.
The 2021 Know Your Coast report noted several coastal areas in the city that had “chronic water quality problems”.
These included Central False Bay, Lagoon Beach, Macassar to Gordon’s Bay and Three Anchor Bay, Saunders’ Rock tidal pool, Bakoven Bungalows, Bakoven Beach, Hout Bay Beach and Long Beach.
Andrews claimed that the poor rating could be attributed to “three or fewer samples” or “discrete” spikes in bacteria counts, as opposed to consistently high counts of bacteria.
He also said “marginal improvements” had been noted in some areas, while a number of areas were considered as “chronically polluted" – this included Lagoon Beach and Three Anchor Bay in the vicinity of the stormwater outlet, Sunrise Beach, Strand Pavilion jetty, and Monwabisi Beach.
Weekend Argus