Cape Town’s sewage dumping noncompliant with regulations

As we reported last week, the City has been deferring dealing with the problems of sewage outfall into the bay for over a hundred years. After bullying scientists to try to get critical studies withdrawn, and losing a major desalination project over poor water quality, the City may finally be forced to do something about it.

Cape Town’s wastewater management practices have come under scrutiny following revelations of ongoing non-compliance at three marine outfalls—Camps Bay, Greenpoint, and Hout Bay. During a recent meeting involving City officials, independent experts, and concerned community members, the extent of regulatory breaches was laid bare, sparking questions about the efficacy of the city’s wastewater treatment systems.

Sven Sötemann, head of Wastewater Development and Infrastructure for Bulk Services, presented findings from the Marine Outfalls Public Advisory Forum’s quarterly report. The report assessed compliance with permits regulating effluent quality, quantity, environmental monitoring, pipeline integrity, and overall system performance.

The report highlighted significant violations across all three outfalls. In Camps Bay, levels of total suspended solids and chemical oxygen demand exceeded regulatory thresholds, while concentrations of arsenic and zinc were found to be higher than permissible limits. Similarly, the Greenpoint outfall recorded violations for arsenic and zinc, while Hout Bay showed elevated levels of nitrogen and suspended solids. An external audit corroborated many of these findings.

City officials defended their efforts, arguing that some regulatory standards for heavy metals like zinc and mercury are unrealistic. Appeals have been submitted to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, though residents and environmental activists remain unconvinced about the city’s approach, especially since in the process, they admitted (as a defence) that the potable water is similarly contaminated, implying that heavy metals in the drinking water were acceptable.

Sötemann’s analysis underscored the breadth of non-compliance. For Camps Bay, violations included total suspended solids (December), chemical oxygen demand (December), and arsenic (December). Zinc breaches occurred in November and December. Greenpoint recorded arsenic non-compliance in December and zinc non-compliance in November. At Hout Bay, total Kjeldahl nitrogen and suspended solids violations were noted, along with a mercury breach confirmed by external auditors.

Over the past quarter, Camps Bay experienced five non-compliance incidents, Greenpoint saw two, and Hout Bay recorded three. Composite sample analyses further revealed additional breaches, with arsenic, total suspended solids, and chemical oxygen demand frequently exceeding limits.