Cape Town: Are its beaches confirmed safe?

Cape Town’s coastal beaches continue to boast excellent quality, as revealed by the latest round of water sample results.

Conducted independently over the past seven weeks, the analysis, including samples from 5 and 7 December 2023, affirms that all eight of Cape Town’s Blue Flag beaches, the city’s most frequented, maintain a flawless 100% compliance with the stringent Blue Flag water quality standards set by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS).

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Additionally, the three Blue Flag Pilot beaches, Mnandi, Strandfontein, and Hout Bay, also exhibit a perfect adherence to these standards.

Blue Flag accreditation is based on what criteria?

Blue Flag accreditation, awarded by the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), is based on criteria spanning Water Quality, Environmental Management, Safety Services, and Education and Awareness.

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The festive season’s water sampling, carried out between 1 December and 31 January, contributes to this recognition.

The Coastal Management branch of the city is actively monitoring trends at 25 other popular beach locations over a 12-month period. Out of 225 samples across 24 key recreational nodes, 94% met excellent water standards during the nine-week research program.

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The results, analysed by the SABS Lab, adhere to the World Health Organisation’s Gold Standard, with a cutoff of 180 enterococci per 100ml.

Andrews emphasised the reliability of the results for the beaches

Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, emphasised the reliability of these results as the best indicator of current coastal water quality, encouraging residents and visitors to enjoy the pristine beaches during the festive season.

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“I want to encourage residents and visitors to enjoy their days out on the beach, and to make the most of what our wonderful city offers during the festive season.

“The results obtained from our monitoring programmes for enterococci over the past seven weeks, confirm the water quality at Cape Town’s most popular beaches is excellent by global standards,” said Andrews.

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