Cape Town - The safety of thousands of beachgoers expected to flock to Cape Town shores over the festive season has come under the spotlight after a third beach was closed in the space of two weeks due to sewage.
The City has been taking water samples on daily for water quality testing, and announced the closure to the public of Bakoven beach on Thursday.
An electrical failure at the Beta sewer pump station has been blamed as a result of continuous load-shedding, leading to the temporary closure of the beach.
This was the same reason that resulted in the section between Muizenberg Pavilion and Sunrise Beach being closed as a precautionary measure on Monday.
An electrical failure at a nearby sewer pump station impacted on the mouth of the Zandvlei.
Fish Hoek beach was closed on Sunday, due to a blocked sewer. Fish Hoek and the section between Muizenberg Pavilion and Sunrise Beach have since been reopened.
In relation to Bakoven, the City said it was looking into a solution that would prevent overflows at the pump station that was in close proximity to the small swimming area.
“One solution is installing an emergency inverter or uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system.
“As a precaution, City Health has advised that the beach be closed until further notice. Health warning signage has been installed,” the City said.
They added that the closures highlighted the challenges brought about by continued high levels of load shedding on the City’s infrastructure.
“With higher, prolonged stages of load-shedding, sewer spills and overflows are to be expected, despite contingency measures. An added challenge is the inappropriate objects like litter, builders’ rubble and fats that end up in the sewers and block the flow of sewage,” the City said.
Milnerton Central Residents’ Association environmental head Caroline Marx said it seemed irresponsible of the City to allow swimming on beaches with high pollution levels, and that putting up more signs did not solve the problem.
“The most recent City results at Lagoon Beach show an E coli level of 81640 cfu/100ml on October 3, with levels of over 241000 cfu/100ml further up river, so why was Lagoon beach not closed as Muizenberg, Fish Hoek and Bakoven have been?
“Recent water test results should be publicly available and any unsafe beach closed.
“If the water is polluted, then beachgoers risk catching gastroenteritis which claimed 18 children’s lives last summer in Cape Town and also hepatitis, typhoid, skin and ear infections, intestinal worms and many other diseases,” she said.
Acting mayor and environment mayco member, Eddie Andrews said: “When we need to close a beach due to water quality concerns, we install signage to inform the public, as was the case at Fish Hoek Beach when we closed it on December 18 and opened it the next day.
Last week we closed a section of the beach at Muizenberg, on December 12, and opened it again to the public on December 16.
“In these instances City Health takes water samples on a daily basis for testing and only opens a beach once the water quality levels are within the minimum requirement for recreational activities as determined by the National Water Quality Guidelines.
“Should we need to close a beach, we install signage to inform the public. In these instances, the public is advised to avoid contact with the water.
“This is a precaution as contact with the water could result in gastro-intestinal issues and therefore any person who enters the water does so at their own risk,” said Andrews.
Independent energy analyst, Clyde Mallinson said sewerage plants needed power for pumps and other equipment, and at a certain level of load shedding, they will not be able to keep up.
“That can result in raw sewage escaping into rivers and the sea.
“Eskom could complete the refuel of Koeberg unit 1 as soon as possible, and bring it back online.”
Cape Times