Groundwater samples taken in Hout Bay were badly polluted with faecal matter which exceeded the safety limit while the pollution in stormwater samples "went off the scale" of a laboratory's testing system, the Hout Bay Residents' Association said.
This was the first time groundwater tests had turned up pollution levels of this magnitude, it said.
Pollution of groundwater poses a serious problem in an arid country such as South Africa, which is likely to have to rely increasingly on groundwater sources as many parts of the country become warmer and drier with climate change.
The association said the faecal matter came from the crowded Imizamo Yethu shack settlement, which had inadequate services.
Justin O'Riain of the Hout Bay Residents' Association, took the water samples from holes dug near Hout Bay's main road below the settlement.
"What's new is that this pollution is now in the groundwater. One of our biggest fears as a nation is that our groundwater will become contaminated. It takes years and years for groundwater to become clean again," O'Riain said.
The samples were tested in a Pathcare laboratory.
Harold Weber, a medical doctor on the residents' association, said even walking barefoot in the polluted stormwater could cause severe cellulitis "and possibly even death" in people who had open wounds and compromised immune systems. Hout Bay has one of the highest incidences of HIV in Cape Town, he said.
"It affects the people of Imizamo Yethu mostly. They have no proper services and there is no control over where they build their shacks. Some are built over fire hydrants and even in the service road," he said.
People were forced to defecate in the bush or even stormwater drains, he said.
Brett Kramer, who lives on a smallholding in Hout Bay, said the sewer overflowed several times a week and ran down the gutters on to his fields.
"My fields get flooded with raw sewage. One of my cows died after drinking this water," Kramer said.
Ivan Bromfield, the city's executive director of health, said the city monitored river water quality monthly and evaluated the results against government water quality guidelines. Many of the rivers were unsuitable for recreational use.
His department told the engineers if it had picked up problems in water quality. City engineers had said they would divert some of the stormwater run-off into the sewers near Hout Bay's Victoria Road.
The city had also put up signs warning people not to swim or play in the Disa River. No one used the river water for drinking.
"The diversion is a temporary solution. The main solution is to upgrade the informal settlement. They are busy with that process now, but the planning process takes a while," Bromfield said.
- Cape Times
This was the first time groundwater tests had turned up pollution levels of this magnitude, it said.
Pollution of groundwater poses a serious problem in an arid country such as South Africa, which is likely to have to rely increasingly on groundwater sources as many parts of the country become warmer and drier with climate change.
The association said the faecal matter came from the crowded Imizamo Yethu shack settlement, which had inadequate services.
| 'It takes years and years for groundwater to become clean again' |
"What's new is that this pollution is now in the groundwater. One of our biggest fears as a nation is that our groundwater will become contaminated. It takes years and years for groundwater to become clean again," O'Riain said.
The samples were tested in a Pathcare laboratory.
Harold Weber, a medical doctor on the residents' association, said even walking barefoot in the polluted stormwater could cause severe cellulitis "and possibly even death" in people who had open wounds and compromised immune systems. Hout Bay has one of the highest incidences of HIV in Cape Town, he said.
"It affects the people of Imizamo Yethu mostly. They have no proper services and there is no control over where they build their shacks. Some are built over fire hydrants and even in the service road," he said.
| 'It affects the people of Imizamo Yethu mostly' |
Brett Kramer, who lives on a smallholding in Hout Bay, said the sewer overflowed several times a week and ran down the gutters on to his fields.
"My fields get flooded with raw sewage. One of my cows died after drinking this water," Kramer said.
Ivan Bromfield, the city's executive director of health, said the city monitored river water quality monthly and evaluated the results against government water quality guidelines. Many of the rivers were unsuitable for recreational use.
His department told the engineers if it had picked up problems in water quality. City engineers had said they would divert some of the stormwater run-off into the sewers near Hout Bay's Victoria Road.
The city had also put up signs warning people not to swim or play in the Disa River. No one used the river water for drinking.
"The diversion is a temporary solution. The main solution is to upgrade the informal settlement. They are busy with that process now, but the planning process takes a while," Bromfield said.
- Cape Times
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