Discharging industrial effluent

Illegal discharges can cause pollution and may also kill the micro-organisms in our wastewater treatment works. This can lead to poorly treated wastewater and downstream pollution of our rivers, vleis and the sea.

If your business produces industrial effluent (industrial wastewater), you need to ensure that it is correctly disposed of within the bounds of the Wastewater and Industrial By-law, and you will need to apply for permission from the City to dispose of your industrial effluent.

Make sure that you are familiar with the Wastewater and Industrial Effluent By-law 2013, which controls the disposal of wastewater and industrial effluent in order to protect the City’s sewer reticulation system, wastewater treatment plants and the environment. This law gives City officials power to take action against people who contravene the by-law.

Help us protect our natural environment and our municipal wastewater systems by understanding the correct procedures for the disposal of industrial effluent.

There are two methods of disposing of industrial effluent in Cape Town:

Discharging industrial effluent into the municipal sewerage system
Depending on the type of industrial effluent that your business produces, you may be able to dispose of it through the City’s sewer system. Most industries discharge industrial effluent in this way. Please note that the following materials cannot be discharged into the sewer system: petrol, oil, greases, waxes, fat, pesticides and insecticides, and paint.

Discharging industrial effluent directly at designated Council facilities
Instead of discharging waste into the sewer system, some businesses need to transport their waste by truck and dispose of it directly at the wastewater treatment works. Your business will need to do this if your industrial effluent volume or load is too much for the system to handle or if it is hazardous to our sewer network and/or wastewater treatment process, and needs to be monitored and treated in a controlled manner. You will also need to follow this process if your company discharges waste from chemical toilets.

You need to apply for permission to discharge industrial effluent. Different application processes are applicable for the two methods of disposing of industrial effluent. Find out how to apply below.

Costs of discharging industrial effluent

Discharging industrial effluent into municipal sewerage system
We calculate the charge as a percentage of your metered municipal water consumption. An administration fee is applicable for our processing of the industrial effluent application form. For more information about the specific costs, please consult the Miscellaneous Tariff in Annexure 6 on our tariffs page or read water and sanitation costs for businesses.

Discharging industrial effluent directly at designated Council facilities
The charge is based on the volume and quality (based on samples) of the effluent. An administration fee is applicable for our processing of the industrial effluent application form.

What the City is doing to regulate industrial effluent

The City of Cape Town is passionate about preventing harmful illegal discharges of industrial effluent. Examples of our actions to regulate and control discharges include:

• water quality monitoring programmes for rivers and water bodies;
• water pollution officers’ inspections of industrial and commercial properties;
• the introduction of stricter by-laws and penalties;
• the establishment of automatic water pollution monitoring infrastructure to monitor effluent coming from industrial areas on a 24 hour basis; and
• the investigation of pollution events. Our water pollution officers are able to trace pollution upstream to identify the source and take action against offending industries.

Please report water pollution and illegal industrial effluent discharges to the City. Visit our contact us page for all City contact numbers and details.

Document downloads

• 1. Budget 2018-2019 Annexure 6: Water and Sanitation- Water- Miscellaneous Tariff

     23/03/2018, Budget annexure - 511.7 KB

  2. Treated Effluent FAQs

     01/10/2018, FAQs - 433.9 KB

  3. Wastewater and Industrial Effluent By-law

     01/05/2006, By-law - 2 MB

  4. Water and Sanitation - Water – Miscellaneous Tariffs

     01/07/2026, Budget annexure,Tariff - 1.4 MB