Failing sewage plants stinking up False Bay

The City of Cape Town’s largest sewage treatment plant is polluting False Bay by failing to treat sewage properly. Various failing sewage plants are pumping untreated sewage off the Atlantic seaboard.

Failing to scoop the poop

According to data from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) has failed to treat sewage to minimum standards for the past six years. It discharges the liquid waste into the bay at Sonwabe Beach via a channel that runs beneath Baden Powell Drive.

Before being released into the environment, sewage must comply with DWS’s minimum standards. These include microbiological compliance (the amount of faecal bacteria) and chemical compliance. The average microbiological compliance at the Cape Flats WWTW for 2023 was 0%.

Cape Flats not the only failing sewage plant

The Cape Flats WWTW, by far the largest sewage plant in Cape Town, is not the only culprit. During the last year, 15 of Cape Town’s 23 sewage plants failed to meet compliance.

Millions of litres of poop in the ocean

Sewage plants released over 382 million litres of partially treated or untreated sewage daily into the rivers, estuaries, and oceans around Cape Town in 2023.

Of this, 216 million litres flowed into False Bay every day. It was released either directly into the ocean or via rivers such as the Eerste River. The rest flowed into the Atlantic on the western seaboard, according to capetownetc.

Similarly, The Simon’s Town WWTW, released 1.2 million litres of partially treated sewage directly into the bay daily in 2023.

What does the City have to say about this?

In light of this, Zahid Badroodien, mayoral committee member for Water and Sanitation, commented on the City’s plans. He said that the City is planning to spend R1.8 billion on extensions and upgrades at WWTWs over the 2023/2024 financial year.

He added that the City is addressing challenges at the Cape Flats WWTW. The City is planning an overhaul of the Macassar WWTW, another sewage treatment plant that releases sewage into False Bay. The City will upgrade it from its current 34 million litre per day capacity to 70 million litres per day capacity.

Eskom is a culprit in failing sewage plants

Another issue according to Badroodien, is that many of the sewage plants are in Eskom electricity supply areas and impacted by loadshedding. He said that Eskom denied requests for plants to be excluded from loadshedding.

The Gordon’s Bay WWTW functions relatively well. However, it is also in an Eskom supply area and “loadshedding does cause some issues for it,” said Badroodien.

The City did not mention the Mitchells Plain or the Scottsdene WWTW. The Mitchells Plain WWTW releases at least 26 million litres of partially treated or untreated sewage into False Bay daily. The Scottsdene WWTW releases 8 million litres of partially treated or untreated sewage daily into Bottelary River, which flows to False Bay via the Kuils River and Eerste River.

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