The City has been slammed for merely erecting signs warning Macassar and Sandvlei communities not to go near the water, despite being made aware of the toxic quality of Kuils River.
Senior CSIR researcher Bettina Genthe was so alarmed at the results of water quality tests that she wrote to Mayco member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy Xanthea Limberg, expressing her concern that the City was not aware of the severity of the health risk.
Last month, the Al Jama-ah political party lodged a complaint against the City for the alleged contravention of the National Environmental Management Act.
It said sewage from areas such as Durbanville, Stellenbosch and surrounds was being led to the City’s Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Works near the community settlement of Sandvlei.
From this plant there is a sewer pipe which leads to a man-made stream. This stream is directed into the Kuils River and disgorges sewage into the water.
Genthe said she had been approached by the community to assess the water quality following various health complaints and an offensive smell that appeared to emanate from untreated sewage.
She analysed the E coli count on two separate occasions and analysed the water for blue-green algae indicating the presence of the cyanotoxin microcystin. The toxin was found at over 1000 ug/litre, where the guideline for recreational activity is less than 10ug/litre.
“City officials were called and the situation was assessed, based on the CSIR’s results.
“A sign declaring the area not safe for swimming or recreational activity was erected. Unlike the health risks from E coli-contaminated water, the health issues from exposure to the cyanotoxin are not due to direct contact with the water, but through inhalation.
“This means that the residents are constantly being exposed to the toxins at levels that are known to result in a 100% health risk and they are not able to avoid this exposure. Residents are experiencing a whole range of health outcomes resulting from the toxin exposure,” she said.
The health issues included: abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, liver inflammation and haemorrhage, acute pneumonia, acute dermatitis, kidney damage and potential tumour growth.
Yesterday, Limberg said the monitoring programme of the water quality in the river had provided a long history of analyses on the nutrients in the river, but not the algae itself, which is what the CSIR matter was about.
“Given the short period between the time we met with the residents, only a one-off water quality testing on the cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) was done. Preliminary results indicate that where the water is stagnant, cyanobacteria was detected at very low concentrations by the City’s Water and Sanitation Department’s Scientific Services Department.
“It is to be noted that the river quality may have changed during the periods of sampling,” Limberg said.
The City responded to Genthe, saying it would collaborate with her on future monitoring of that section of the river, Limberg said.
“While the Zandvliet Wastewater Treatment Plant is an impactor on the river, there are other sources of pollution due to farming activities upstream and informal settlements along the river, among others.”
Sandvlei United Community Organisation spokesperson Maryam Salie said the community was outraged at the test results.
Water samples have shown 80 to 135 times more E coli counts than permitted in a river for irrigation. For recreational activity such as swimming or wading, the risks are greater the E coli counts are 100 to 1350 times higher than acceptable as safe.