By Ragheema Mclean

The City of Cape Town has announced plans to deal with the 32 million litres of raw sewage currently being released into the Atlantic Ocean every day.

This follows an ongoing public outcry and concerns raised regarding huge sewage plumes floating off the coast, particularly near Camps Bay, where more than two million litres of sieved raw sewage is discharged into the sea daily.

This discharge is part of a larger problem, with two other marine outfalls at Greenpoint and Hout Bay also contributing to the pollution.

Speaking on VOC Breakfast on Wednesday, Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation Zahid Badroodien said the city was now exploring short, medium, and long-term options to treat the sewage being pumped into the ocean.

Badroodien explained that in the medium term, the city is considering extending the existing marine outfall pipelines, which currently range from 1.35km to 2.1km in length.

However, due to the shape of Camps Bay and Hout Bay, the actual discharge points are only about 700 meters from land.

Meanwhile, in the long term, options include pumping sewage from all three areas to various existing wastewater treatment works, such as Potsdam in Milnerton, Cape Flats in Strandfontein, Athlone, and Wildevoelvlei in Kommetjie.

“For a long time, the marine outfalls have been a controversial issue, where the scientific community and the civic associations in the area have really called upon the city to be mindful of the sensitive nature of that particular marine environment.”

He stated, “These communities are now very satisfied that, finally, we are listening to them, which is very important as we investigate the options the city can implement to address this issue.”

VOC NEWS

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