The Cape Flats aquifer, which has the potential to supply Cape Town with billions of litres of fresh water a year, is under growing threat from chemical pollution, say experts.
The chemicals, among others, that have found their way down into the water-bearing rock include nitrates from human waste, cyanide from industry and pesticides sprayed by local farmers.
Covering about 630 square kilometres, the aquifer lies under the coastal sands that stretch from the Cape Peninsula to the inland mountains…
The threats from this are:
* Low-to-medium risk pollution sources, which occur in large areas of the Cape Flats. These include low-income residential areas such as Guguletu and Khayelitsha, as well as the Philippi farming areas; and
* So-called “nodal sources” of pollution, including waste-water treatment works and numerous waste-disposal sites…
The paper also notes the provision of adequate sanitation to the numerous people living in informal settlements on the Cape Flats “is prominent and fundamental to public health”. SAPA
The chemicals, among others, that have found their way down into the water-bearing rock include nitrates from human waste, cyanide from industry and pesticides sprayed by local farmers.
Covering about 630 square kilometres, the aquifer lies under the coastal sands that stretch from the Cape Peninsula to the inland mountains…
The threats from this are:
* Low-to-medium risk pollution sources, which occur in large areas of the Cape Flats. These include low-income residential areas such as Guguletu and Khayelitsha, as well as the Philippi farming areas; and
* So-called “nodal sources” of pollution, including waste-water treatment works and numerous waste-disposal sites…
The paper also notes the provision of adequate sanitation to the numerous people living in informal settlements on the Cape Flats “is prominent and fundamental to public health”. SAPA
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