Sewage matters under spotlight

• Author: Shahied Joseph shahied.joseph@acm.co.za
• Published date: 24 March 2023
• Publication title: Sentinel News

The presentation at Camps Bay High School, titled “The Bays of Sewage, on Thursday March 9 also had City representatives present

Organiser Freedom Front Plus PR councillor Paul Jacobson, said it’s time to rethink the City’s sewage treatment options.

“Unless we take the stink seriously and come up with solutions, Cape Town as an economic and tourist hub, will be doomed,” he said.

Over the past few years the Atlantic Sun, Sentinel’s sister paper, has reported extensively on sewage concerns in the area (“Impact of sewage spills at Clifton beaches ’low’,” April 7, 2022, “Camps Bay marine outfall causes a stink”, February 11, 2022, “Seaboard sewage concerns”, September 2, 2021).

Specialists and activists in- formed the audience about the damaging effects of sewage that come from the Camps Bay marine outfall, commissioned in 1977, as well as the Green Point and Hout Bay outfalls that started operating in 1993.

Jean Tresfon, a marine conservation photographer, said in 2014 he posted aerial images of sewage plumes on social media and had little reaction from people, however, his presentation drew gasps of disbelief from the audience.

“You can see how this plume looks with the Mother City in the background, it gives you an idea of the size of this. These plumes of effluent are drifting into the bays and to the shores,” said Mr Tresfon.

He said when he first raised this issue in 2015 there was blatant denial from the then mayoral committee member for water and sanitation and City administration.

Mr Tresfon said later the City “admitted that the plumes were from the outfalls but said they were not harmful in any way.”

“And it then changed as they said it’s only harmful in a localised area and it’s dissipated as it’s diluted in the ocean,” he said.

“The story changed again and we were told that the outfalls are not ideal but there’s no economically viable alternatives which we don’t believe to be true. The City needs to listen to us and we want to work with them,” he said.

Mark Jackson, a film-maker who in 2016 produced the short documentary Bay of Sewage, says he enquired about the cost to replace a marine outfall plant and that the City informed him that a feasibility study could be ready in June.

“I spoke to an engineer about a treatment plant that would cost about R80 to R150 million but we don’t want an open sewage plant here, we want a membrane bio reactor, and the figure he gave me is a R150 million-plus and I don’t know if it sounds a lot to you, but to me it...