Hout Bay residents raise stink about spill

Published Jun 12, 2006

Share

By Heather Downie

Hout Bay residents have been complaining about repeated sewage pipeline overflows and grey water run-offs into the Disa River, which runs directly through wetlands and on to Hout Bay beach, for the past two years.

But the most recent foul smell has the suburb and the City of Cape Town at odds over the cause.

Last weekend, a sewage pump overflowed 300m north of Hout Bay beach, disgorging faeces into the nearby wetlands and river, according to Justin O'Riain, a zoologist at the University of Cape Town, and other wetland conservation workers in the area.

"The wetland waters turned from clear to foetid. A strong smell of sewage followed by a mass walkout of crabs alerted me to the problem," said O'Riain, who filed a complaint with the City.

"What other than sewage could have been the cause?"

"It was a false alarm," said Ivan Toms, director of City Health, who responded by sending health inspectors to the site.

"There's an issue about pump capacity, but our team didn't find anything unusual other than a slight smell."

Results from their water tests are not yet available.

Sewage spills and grey water run-offs from the informal settlement Imizama Yethu, have contaminated the Disa River, which feeds directly on to the popular beach.

Levels of e-Coli bacteria at the mouth of the river throughout 2004 and 2005 reached as high as 48 000 per 100ml, or over 20 times the acceptable limit.

A growing population and new development projects tax existing infrastructure and exacerbate the problem, according to Len Swimmer, chairperson of the Residents' Association of Hout Bay.

A sign that the City of Cape Town put up at the mouth of the Disa River warning "Polluted Water, No Swimming", is now lying in the sand.

"It's completely unacceptable for waste to go through an ecological area and then downstream into areas where children and people are playing," said O'Riain.

"Something more than a sign needs to be done to prevent this from happening again."

Over the past two years, manholes at the Riding Centre in Hout Bay have overflowed irregularly, but often, said riding instructor Kim Wallace.

Maintenance crews have blamed recent power cuts and a faulty sewage level indicator which failed to detect the overloaded pipes which had caused more recent spills, so the problem is fixable, said O'Riain.

Related Topics: