Cape Town | Thursday
THE Cape Town city council has issued a health warning after a spill of raw sewage into the river system below the Athlone wastewater treatment works on the Cape Flats.
The administration said feeder pipes at the works were accidentally damaged during upgrading work on Wednesday.
This resulted in an overflow of sewage into the Vygekraal River system.
”The public is warned to avoid all contact with the water in the Vygekraal, Black River and Salt River system, which has been polluted through the inflow of untreated sewage,” the council said.
Repairs to the damaged mains would be carried out on Thursday, after which pumping operations would be normalised.
An investigation would be conducted into the burst.
Acting head of waste water operations in the city, Peter King, said this spill would have an adverse effect on aquatic life in the river.
”There is no doubt about that, because the flow of the river is very low at the moment,” he said.
This sewage would deplete oxygen levels, which could affect creatures such as crabs and fish. King said there were no residential areas along the banks of the river below the treatment works.
There was a sewage spill at the Athlone works when a pipe broke about a four months ago, but that was contained on site and there was no spill into the river. – Sapa