Water Wheel May/June 2023: Urban Water Management

Abstract

Restoring the ecological health of Cape Town’s waterways – one vlei at a time The year 2021 was an annus horribilis for Cape Town’s three large waterbodies – Zandvlei, Zeekoevlei and Rietvlei – with all being closed to recreation for many months due to high levels of faecal contamination. The problems were variously attributed to upstream sewage spills caused by pump station failures and sewer line blockages, stormwater ingress into sewage systems during heavy rains, the theft of one manhole cover and the damage of another, and the malfunction of a screw pump at the inlet of the Cape Flats Wastewater Works (WWTW) near Zeekoevlei. The closure of the vleis and the multitude of contributory factors focused public and political attention on sanitation issues and the environmental impact of sewage pollution. On his first day in office on 19 November 2021, Cape Town’s Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, visited some low-income, high-density areas that had been particularly affected by sewage spills, and asked officials to provide short-term solutions.

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