Zandvlei area off-limits to public after sewage spill risk

THE Zandvlei area has been temporarily closed to the public for recreational purposes and fishing, as a precautionary measure to test the water.

The closure came after a bulk sewer main collapsed early last week, resulting in the spilling into the vlei of high levels of faecal coliforms (Escherichia coli).

Manager in the biodiversity management branch of the City’s Environmental Management Department, Julia Wood, said access to the Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve and other visitor facilities in the area remain open to the public.

She added that tests the City conducted had shown high levels of faecal coliforms in the body of water, indicating an elevated risk to human health.

Although coliforms by themselves were reportedly not disease-causing (pathogenic), they were an indicator of the number of pathogenic organisms in the water.

The public was advised to avoid all contact with the water at Zandvlei until those levels fall back within national recreational water-use guidelines, Wood said.

The collapse of the bulk sewer main had been contained, and the City had been monitoring the effect of the sewage spill into the body of water, as well as additional pollutants entering the vlei from the catchment area.

“The City has since Friday been monitoring the effect of the sewage spill… and the additional pollutants entering the vlei from the catchment area.

“The additional pollutants are as a result of the flushing effect of the recent rain after an extended dry period.

“The results of these water quality tests dictated the decision to apply a precautionary approach for the safety of the residents of Cape Town,” said Wood.

She said signage had been erected advising visitors to the vlei to exercise due caution and avoid contact with the water.