[imagesource: World Orgs]

One has to wonder if that recent stomach bug going around was down to the sewerage spills in some of Cape Town’s popular swimming spots.

The bout of gastrointestinal issues might not be correlated to swimming in the sea, but it is hard not to make the connection when quite a few beaches have been closed across the city over the past few months due to sewage spills, much as a result of load shedding.

In December, a section of Fish Hoek Beach had to be shut down due to a sewage spill caused by a blocked pipe, as well as Strand Beach, Bakoven, and Small Bay in Blaauwberg, which were also temporarily closed due to sewage spills.

In January, Llandudno Beach was also closed to bathers due to yet another sewerage overflow in Cape Town.

GroundUp released a report at the start of the month showing how we’re swimming at beaches that are actually way too polluted.

The report revealed that while eight Cape Town beaches were closed during the December and January festive season, water test results show that several other beaches were also too polluted for safe swimming:

Many of the beaches were closed when sewage pump stations could not pump out incoming sewage during load shedding. After continued water quality testing for the presence of E. coli, most of the affected beaches were opened within a day or two. Chair of the mayco committee for water quality, Alex Lansdowne, said then that the maximum E. coli level was 500 colony forming units (cfu) per 100ml, and as soon as tests showed E.coli was lower than this, the beaches were reopened.

The City takes coastal water quality samples every two weeks, with tests done for E.coli as well as enterococci, a more virulent strain of faecal bacteria.

The presence of these pollutants in the water has the potential to cause gastrointestinal problems that could be life-threatening.

The report listed Strand at Murray Road, Maiden’s Cove tidal pool, Lagoon Beach in Milnerton, Gordon’s Bay, Glencairn beach, The Kom in Kommetjie, Long Beach in Kommetjie, and Frank’s Bay in Simon’s Town as particularly pollution prone:

As far as can be determined, none of them, with the exception of Lagoon Beach at Milnerton, which has been polluted for at least three years, had signage warning beach goers that the water was unsafe for swimming or playing in.

Unfortunately, coastal water quality tests are little more than “a tick-box exercise”, according to community activist Caroline Marx, who sits on the mayoral advisory committee for water quality.

Under these conditions, Cape Talk asked if the Mother City’s water is actually safe to swim in. You can listen to Lester Kiewit interviewing Dr Jo Barnes, a senior lecturer emeritus at Stellenbosch University’s Department of Global Health:

A lot of these spills are caused by faulty sewer pumps that don’t switch on again due to load shedding, and the City of Cape Town has been trying to install UPS systems at each pump station to keep them running smoothly during power cuts.

Apparently, a backup power supply was installed at the Bakoven pump station and is now “operating optimally”.

But Dr Jo Barnes said that the city should focus on pollution even when it’s not related to load shedding.

EWN noted that the City of Cape Town is “considering” implementing additional environmental measures to further reduce the environmental impact of discharging wastewater into the oceans.

In response to criticism of the five-year permit issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs that allows the city to pump treated sewage into the ocean, the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Siseko Mbandezi, said that the city’s discharge of wastewater was done with “due consideration of the best environmental practices”:

“These outfalls have been assessed to be operating within marine environmental standards. The city is committed to protecting and managing Cape Town’s natural environment and reducing environmental pollution to best practices and technology,” said Mbandezi. “This includes upgrades to wastewater treatment works and the sewer network, which will have a positive impact on water quality.”

ActionSA is preparing a legal challenge to the permit issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs.

More definitely needs to be done to make sure our swimming spots are safe to splash around in.

Join Friends of the River in Hout Bay or the non-profit company Rethink the Stink to fight the good fight.

[sources:capetalk&ewn]