Let's unpack the propaganda spin in this article.
Sewage water discharge into the ocean around Cape Town poses no immediate threat to the environment and is common practice worldwide, says the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment.
Many eminent marine scientists from local universities have expressed their misgivings about the impact of 37 million litres of sewage water being pumped into the shallow seabed in the Metro, yet not one was interviewed for this one-sided article protecting the status quo.
Just because other cities around the world still pump sewage into the sea does not make it right. In fact, many cities are shutting down these pipelines, recognising they pose a danger to our oceans and ocean food supply.
This was in response to criticism — and a pending appeal — against the department's issuing of coastal water discharge permits (CWDPs) for Hout Bay, Camps Bay and Green Point, where the city discharges “preliminary” treated sewerage via outfall pipes situated out to sea.
The court case seeking a reversal of the licence in question came about after no environmental impact assessment was commissioned for the extension of the five-year permit. New science underlines that such practices are harmful to the marine environment.
"Preliminarily treated sewage" is basically, in layman's terms, poo, urine, synthetic chemicals (solvents, household detergents and even pharmaceuticals). toilet paper used condoms, sanitary pads and tampons, put through a macerator (think kitchen liquidiser) and sieved through a 3mm mesh and pumped straight into the sea. There is no secondary treatment. It's basically a raw smoothie of toilet waste.
The coastal discharge is an ongoing source of concern for many city stakeholders, among them water scientists and water sports enthusiasts who claim plumes of contaminated water pose a health risk.
ActionSA confirmed last week the party had met attorneys and would appeal against the granting of the permits, which are valid for a further five years.
Over the weekend an ActionSA member took her kayak out to the Green Point outflow and took pictures of the sewage sludge on the surface of the ocean in windless and calm conditions.
The next day, in windy and choppy conditions non expert City officials tried to debunk this by sending out a rubber duck and proclaiming all was well and challenged her evidence, even blaming it on red tide.
However, the city and department insist marine impact assessments conducted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) show no “major risks” to human health.
“The findings of the above-mentioned study indicated there is no immediate ecological disaster or major risks to human health forthcoming as a result of the effluent discharged through the Cape Town outfalls,” said the department.
The assessment may not have drawn a direct conclusion that the sewage poses harm to humans, but it said nothing about marine animal health. However, there have been countless reports of divers, bathers and surfers in Green Point and surrounds suffering from water born infections over the years.
“The department also considered alternative options during the decision-making process. However, no other feasible options are available. The city cannot cease the operations of the waste water treatment works as the municipality has a constitutional responsibility to deliver water and sanitation services to its citizens.
The government also has a constitutional obligation to provide for a safe and clean environment, so this excuse is threadbare. Technologies have existed for decades which could mitigate this pollution, yet have not been explored. State-owned land and funding are available to implement changes but it appears there is no political will to fix this.
“In granting the permits, the department made it conditional that the city must investigate ways to improve the quality of the effluent.
So far the City has no concrete plans on the table to change anything.
“It is important to note that the effluent discharged is not raw sewage but preliminary treated sewage.”
This is, however, disputed by independent filmmaker Mark Jackson, who produced a short documentary on the city’s coastal discharge.
“Fact is, you can't clean sewage water by running it through a sieve. That does nothing. It's either primary-treated in a settling tank [for starters] or it's raw sewage effluent. I believe the city knows that,” said Jackson. “The sooner the public knows the reality, the sooner we can start figuring out how to fix it.”
The city faces increasing scrutiny of its waste water treatment policies in light of an upsurge of sewerage spills linked to load-shedding and illegal dumping of waste. Several beaches were temporarily closed during the festive season, drawing attention to the problem. The city has since announced a
large budget increase to upgrade its waste water treatment facilities and limit outages due to load-shedding.
It is unfathomable why a water-scarce city like Cape Town, which had a Day Zero water crisis just a few years ago, does not explore wastewater recycling at such sites, so this water is processed and made potable and reticulated back onto the city's freshwater supply.
This biased article spews more cr@ap than the sewer pipeline IMO.
www.2oceansvibe.com
