Load-shedding, illegal dumping push Cape Town sewer budget up sevenfold

Cape Town has approved a sevenfold budget increase to upgrade and protect the city’s sewerage pump stations from load-shedding and illegal dumping.

The budget, R70m in 2022, will rise to R400m in 2024 and R500m in 2025, the city said on Wednesday.

The upgrade is in response to load-shedding and to address continuing vandalism, ageing infrastructure and damage caused by illegal dumping into the system.

By June, the city will have installed permanent generators at 110 priority pump stations. Another 30 are earmarked for installation.

Cape Town like Durban recently had to close some beaches because of sewage problems. It recently announced the reopening of Strand and Small Bay beaches, which were closed after problems with sewer pipes and pumps.

In a statement,  the city said the beaches were closed on New Year’s Day “as a precautionary measure”. It said a section of Strand Beach was closed due to an electrical fault at the pump station, “but the issue has since been resolved”.

“Small Bay was closed due to a damaged sewer pipe. The damaged pipe section was isolated inside the manhole. Sewer flow is being diverted by means of a mobile pump that is running for 24 hours. Spillage onto the beach is contained. Repairs to the damaged section will be resolved depending on the tide timetable,” according to a statement issued by the city when the spillage happened.

Early warning alarm systems to detect faults have been installed at all 487 stations.

“While we aim to end load-shedding over time in Cape Town, we are investing now to protect our critical infrastructure from the impact of sustained blackouts,” said mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“Cape Town’s sewer infrastructure is under pressure from rapid urbanisation and in need of upgrading. One of our first actions in office was to quadruple the city’s proactive sewer pipe replacement target from 25km to 100km annually.

“Now, thanks to an ongoing citywide audit of sewer pump stations, we are ready to massively ramp up budgets for upgrades. This includes protection from load-shedding, sewer misuse, theft and vandalism.”

News of the upgrade follows reports of sewage pollution at some city beaches that were closed temporarily during the festive season. Water quality at these beaches failed mandatory quality tests, but they reopened once it improved.

The pollution was caused by sewage overflows, usually related to illegal dumping and load-shedding.

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