The continuing power cuts are putting public health at risk, with an estimated 4,000 litres of raw sewage having flowed into the Milnerton lagoon because a pump was shut down.
The sewage flowed into a reed bed that feeds the lagoon after the Koeberg pump which does not have a backup generator was hit by blackouts.
On Tuesday morning Eskom said the risk of load-shedding on Tuesday remained high.
On Monday night, a Code Red warning was broadcast nationwide, signalling that the national electricity supply system was "under increasing strain" and that even stoves, microwaves and kettles had to be switched off until demand eased.
On Tuesday city spokesperson Charles Cooper said the council had dealt with the sewage problem and if Eskom stuck to its schedule of 2.5-hour planned outages, the problem should not be repeated.
While there are 395 sewage pumps in the Cape Town Metropole, the city has only "15 fixed and 12-15 mobile generators" to provide back-up electricity for all the pumps in the case of power outages, the city confirmed.
As well as the Koeberg sewage pump shutdown, a pump in False Bay has also spilled raw sewage into the sea near Simon's Town, Cooper confirmed, but he described it as "a small problem".
The Koeberg pump that overflowed last week is adjacent to Koeberg Road in Theo Marais Park and pumps sewage from a vast area, including Century City, Sanddrift, Milnerton, parts of Goodwood and Tygerhof, out of a wastewater canal and into the Potsdam wastewater treatment works.
A senior city engineer said he had first noticed a problem during a power cut on Friday, when he saw untreated sewage flowing along the stormwater canal and going "straight into the lagoon".
He estimated that about 4,000 litres of raw sewage had flowed into the lagoon over the past few days and said the situation was "cause (for) alarm".
"There is so much in flow … It is a very serious matter," he said, adding that the city was trying to confine and treat the spillage.
Cooper confirmed that experts had been called in to treat the spill with bio-augmentation agents.
He said the affected pump was receiving an electrical upgrade which, along with the replacement of old equipment, would enable better generator connectivity.
The Milnerton problem could not be blamed solely on power outages, as there had also been an electronic system failure at the pump station.
Apart from the Milnerton and Simon's Town incidents, there had been no other problems because of power outages.
Electrician Christo Viljoen, who was upgrading the switchgear at the pump to make it compatible with a backup generator, said the pump had "tripped" last Wednesday.
The following morning he saw raw sewage flowing into the lagoon from the Diep River.
Environmentalist Andy Birkinshaw said the government had to be held accountable for this new development, as it was bound to protect the environment and the people.
"Raw sewage running into the lagoon is totally unacceptable. We should call on the minister of environmental affairs to take Eskom to task for devastating our environment," Birkinshaw said.
It appeared that the City of Cape Town's environmental department didn't "look after the environment".
Residents around the lagoon have raised voices of concern about the environmental hazard, along with regular users of the lagoon.
Richard Rundle, Trustee for Environment and Waterfront at Woodbridge Island a residential complex adjacent to the lagoon has reported an "infestation" of small flying insects that could be seen feasting on the sewage flowing into the lagoon.
The director of the West Coast Field Study Centre at Cape Environmental Trust, Frank Wygold, said the Lagoon and the Rietvlei nature reserve in Table View were used as an environmental training ground and raw sewage spillage was a threat to the lower end of the food chain.
"Raw sewage would kill the lower portions of the food chain and as a result would destroy the area as a training ground," he said. - Cape Argus
The sewage flowed into a reed bed that feeds the lagoon after the Koeberg pump which does not have a backup generator was hit by blackouts.
On Tuesday morning Eskom said the risk of load-shedding on Tuesday remained high.
On Monday night, a Code Red warning was broadcast nationwide, signalling that the national electricity supply system was "under increasing strain" and that even stoves, microwaves and kettles had to be switched off until demand eased.
On Tuesday city spokesperson Charles Cooper said the council had dealt with the sewage problem and if Eskom stuck to its schedule of 2.5-hour planned outages, the problem should not be repeated.
While there are 395 sewage pumps in the Cape Town Metropole, the city has only "15 fixed and 12-15 mobile generators" to provide back-up electricity for all the pumps in the case of power outages, the city confirmed.
As well as the Koeberg sewage pump shutdown, a pump in False Bay has also spilled raw sewage into the sea near Simon's Town, Cooper confirmed, but he described it as "a small problem".
The Koeberg pump that overflowed last week is adjacent to Koeberg Road in Theo Marais Park and pumps sewage from a vast area, including Century City, Sanddrift, Milnerton, parts of Goodwood and Tygerhof, out of a wastewater canal and into the Potsdam wastewater treatment works.
A senior city engineer said he had first noticed a problem during a power cut on Friday, when he saw untreated sewage flowing along the stormwater canal and going "straight into the lagoon".
He estimated that about 4,000 litres of raw sewage had flowed into the lagoon over the past few days and said the situation was "cause (for) alarm".
"There is so much in flow … It is a very serious matter," he said, adding that the city was trying to confine and treat the spillage.
Cooper confirmed that experts had been called in to treat the spill with bio-augmentation agents.
He said the affected pump was receiving an electrical upgrade which, along with the replacement of old equipment, would enable better generator connectivity.
The Milnerton problem could not be blamed solely on power outages, as there had also been an electronic system failure at the pump station.
Apart from the Milnerton and Simon's Town incidents, there had been no other problems because of power outages.
Electrician Christo Viljoen, who was upgrading the switchgear at the pump to make it compatible with a backup generator, said the pump had "tripped" last Wednesday.
The following morning he saw raw sewage flowing into the lagoon from the Diep River.
Environmentalist Andy Birkinshaw said the government had to be held accountable for this new development, as it was bound to protect the environment and the people.
"Raw sewage running into the lagoon is totally unacceptable. We should call on the minister of environmental affairs to take Eskom to task for devastating our environment," Birkinshaw said.
It appeared that the City of Cape Town's environmental department didn't "look after the environment".
Residents around the lagoon have raised voices of concern about the environmental hazard, along with regular users of the lagoon.
Richard Rundle, Trustee for Environment and Waterfront at Woodbridge Island a residential complex adjacent to the lagoon has reported an "infestation" of small flying insects that could be seen feasting on the sewage flowing into the lagoon.
The director of the West Coast Field Study Centre at Cape Environmental Trust, Frank Wygold, said the Lagoon and the Rietvlei nature reserve in Table View were used as an environmental training ground and raw sewage spillage was a threat to the lower end of the food chain.
"Raw sewage would kill the lower portions of the food chain and as a result would destroy the area as a training ground," he said. - Cape Argus
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