Cape Town - The closure of yet another beach due to a sewage spill – this time a part of Gordon’s Bay – has added to the growing fears over health and safety, especially amid increasing gastroenteritis reports.
The City, however, has claimed it has not received any reports from patients over drinking water or water for recreational activities, and a spate of stomach bug cases was due to rising heat temperatures, with the Provincial Health Department backing this.
Between October 31 and December 26, 2 453 gastroenteritis cases were reported to the City.
Gordon’s Bay Beach, between the walkway and the area in front of Spur, is the latest to experience sewer overflows.
Within a space of four days, four beaches, including Strand Beach, Small Bay in Blaauwberg and Fish Hoek Beach, had to be temporarily closed due to spills. Fish Hoek Beach, between the lifeguard station and Jager’s Walk, was reopened on Thursday.
Health warning signage has been erected, advising the public of the situation.
“Fish Hoek Beach’s temporary closure was due to a sewer overflow caused by a blocked sewer pipe that was cleared.
Items such as plastics and materials were removed from the sewer pipe.
“A section of Gordon’s Bay Beach’s temporary closure is due to a sewer overflow in the area related to a sewer pump station that tripped because inappropriate materials had been thrown into the local sewer network yet again.
“The pumps are being serviced and mitigation measures have been implemented in the meantime to maintain the sewer operations.
“City Health will be taking water samples on a daily basis for water quality testing until such time as the levels are within the minimum requirement for recreational activities, as determined by the National Water Quality Guidelines,” the City said.
It urged the public to avoid contact with the water until further notice, and stated that this was a precaution as contact with the water could result in potential gastro-intestinal issues.
“Therefore, any person who enters the water does so at their own risk.
Health warning signage has been erected, advising the public accordingly,” it said.
The estuary mouth at the Milnerton Lagoon and Lagoon Beach, which has also remained closed since last year, has seen some residents and visitors, including children, swimming in the polluted waters during the festive season due to hot summer temperatures.
Lesley Rochat, founder and chief executive of AfriOceans and an environmentalist who wrote a blog last month titled “Drowning in poop”, said sewage was a complex cocktail containing a plethora of substances harmful to humans and the environment.
“One does not exactly expect to be floating in poop along such a beautiful and pristine coastline as False Bay. But it is far from pristine.
On a number of occasions, and from our eco-tourism centre, Shark Warrior Adventure Centre situated at Seaforth beach, we have sea-kayaked in floating poop!
“Now this is not good for tourism when a tourist asks: ‘What is this stuff floating on the surface?’
“Too much sewage entering our oceans results in lack of oxygen in the ocean which then creates dead zones, areas where fish and other marine life are unable to grow or survive. Not to mention the fact that the marine life we eat contains drugs found in the sewage such as antibiotics and hormones, which are harmful to humans,” said Rochat.
According to Rochat, she has been informed by the City that funding was lacking to address the problems of failed pumps and old, outdated systems, which were taking greater strain with increased load shedding.
Leslie Petrik, emeritus professor of the faculty of natural sciences in the department of chemistry at UWC, said disease was invisible as it happened to individuals who mainly suffered in silence.
“It is very difficult to correlate the disease with the exposure to polluted water, unless there was regular public health data being collected, which is not being done by the City as far as I can see.
“The really worrying aspect to me is that the organisms in water samples we tested were highly antibiotic resistant; in other words the organisms had developed the ability to survive the antibiotics used to cure disease.
“This means that if one were to be infected with such resistant bacteria, it would be very hard to treat the infection, and may cause extended hospital stays or even death from untreatable infections,” said Petrik.
Patricia van der Ross, Mayco member for community services and health, said between October 31 and December 26 there were 2 453 gastroenteritis cases.
“City Health has not received any reports from patients regarding drinking water or water for recreational activities as a cause of diarrhoea. Please note we are currently in what is known as surge season.”
Cape Times