City and Bays of Sewage activists hold constructive talks on long-term alternatives to marine outfalls
27 March 2025
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien, recently hosted members of the Bays of Sewage group to discuss the City’s long-term plans for marine outfalls and the ongoing coastal water quality monitoring programme.
The meeting was convened on the basis that there is in fact no major difference of opinion between the City and water activists. The City is already committed to a phased approach to investigating the replacement of the outfalls with wastewater treatment works. All parties agreed that the widespread global practice of using coastal outfalls is not a desirable long-term solution for Cape Town. The City has already embarked on a feasibility study into long-term alternatives to the use of outfalls.
The City has made available a concept study on where these future treatment works may be located, which is available here. This study emphasises the space constraints in building large new treatment works, and the extraordinary cost of doing so. For comparison, Sydney is investigating replacing their coastal outfalls at a projected cost of $32 billion Australian dollars. Cape Town’s feasibility and design work continues.
The Bays of Sewage group welcomed this vision and stressed the importance of maintaining open communication.
Key requests included enhancing public awareness through improved signage, upgrades to the existing outfalls and increased testing. The City can confirm that in the draft city budget presented this week, R300 million is budgeted for the refurbishment of the outfalls, and R7 million is budgeted annually for increased testing at the outfalls, and will also produce clearer beach signage.
The City also reaffirmed its commitment to continuously sharing its coastal water quality monitoring data through its online portal, and to explore integrating water quality updates into the City's municipal app so that residents can access the newest test results on their mobile devices, even as they head to the beach.
The Mayor emphasised that the City is committed to a constructive and solutions-oriented relationship with the activist community, and made it clear that the City is, and will continue to be, completely open about water issues, as transparency is essential for building trust with the activist community and public alike. Anything the City can do to be even more forthcoming, we will gladly do. The activists noted that there had indeed been a sea-change in openness from the City in recent years.
Some facts about the City’s monitoring programme:
• Cape Town has a dedicated team whose full-time job is to travel the entire 300km of our coastline – every week – to collect water samples for analysis.
• Over 100 locations are sampled: 45 of these weekly, 15 monthly, and 44 bi-monthly
• The City continues to generate a huge database of hundreds of samples from daily monitoring at Camps Bay and Strand Beaches
• Samples are analysed by an independent laboratory accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) specifically for microbiology in sea water. This gives assurance of reliable results.
• Besides the City’s sampling programme, the South African Bureau of Standards takes weekly samples at all Blue Flag beaches, which the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) uses to confirm Blue Flag status.
Regarding marine outfalls monitoring, the City has published ten years of extensive monitoring, reporting, and analysis from independent experts, all available online including data from hundreds of water samples from around 18 stations at each of these outfalls. Detailed numerical dispersion modelling shows that South African Water Quality guidelines are not exceeded anywhere along the shoreline due to the effluent from the marine outfalls.
Hundreds of environmental factors at the three outfalls are tested in accordance with a monitoring programme approved by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. This important work is done by an appointed external team of marine science experts, who present the results quarterly to the City’s Permit Advisory Forum, which is open to the public.
‘The City’s Mayoral Committee is strongly behind converting marine outfalls to more appropriate long-term treatment options, and we welcome the alignment with Bays of Sewage activists with the City’s intentions in this regard. The way forward will be determined by the outcome of the feasibility study, Environmental Impact Assessment and budgetary implications. Protecting our beautiful coastline is a priority, and the City has invested approximately R300 million in funding over the next three financial years to upgrade and refurbish the outfalls and oversight through the Permit Advisory Forum. To provide assurance to the public on water quality at Cape Town’s world-class beaches, the City further conducts a robust water quality monitoring programme that is unprecedented in South Africa and aligned to best practice globally, with the results available to the public online. We will continue to refine and improve this programme in consultation with stakeholders,' said Councillor Badroodien.
Short and medium-term improvement programme
The City has embarked on a phased-refurbishment plan to enhance the performance and resilience of the marine outfall system.
2025 financial year
• Ongoing refurbishment and repair of screening systems
• Refurbishment of degritting installation at Hout Bay
Short to medium-term (2026 – 2028)
R110 million has been budgeted for capital works:
• Replacing ageing mechanical and electrical equipment
• Upgrade flow measurement systems, including emergency overflow monitoring
• Enhancing fire protection and ventilation systems
• Refurbishing corroded channels, manholes and sumps
• Providing new odour control systems for Camps Bay and an upgraded odour control system for Green Point.
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
