About 330 sewer blockages per day in Cape Town cost the city R170m a year
City official Xanthea Limberg says residents are abusing the sewerage system, with items including garden chairs and car engines being found discarded
Sheep heads‚ lawnmowers‚ and ovens are just some of the items dumped into the sewers of Cape Town‚ causing blockages and overflows that cost the city R170m a year to fix. Smaller items flushed into the system such as condoms and human hair stick to massive balls of congealed cooking oil in the city sewers. Mayoral committee member for informal settlements‚ water and waste services‚ and energy Xanthea Limberg said residents were abusing the sewerage system‚ increasing blockages from 293 per day in the 2015-16 year to an average of 330 per day in 2017-18. She said that garden chairs‚ car engines‚ tyres‚ cloth‚ nappies and rope "should not be dumped" into the sewage system. "The persistent misuse of the sewer system continues in areas across the metro‚ causing blockages and overflows which place the health of our environment and communities at risk‚" said Limberg. "It also wastes city resources, which could rather be used to extend service delivery to our communities." She said that ma...
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