Discharge of water containing waste emanating from land to the marine environment: A water quality management perspective

Abstract

The National Water Act, 1998 (Act 36 of 1998) mandates the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to manage all water containing waste (wastewater), which emanates from land-based sources and which directly impact on the marine environment. These sources include sea outfalls, storm water drains, canals, rivers and diffuse sources of pollution. To date there are many places where wastewater is being discharged into the sea. More than forty sea outfalls are formalised through authorisations issued i n terms of the old Water Act, 1956 (Act 54 of 1956) and the National Water Act, 1998 (Act 36 of 1998). In order to protect water quality, effluent standards were applied under the old Water Act to discharges into the water resource. However, the National Water Act, 1998 follows a receiving water quality objectives approach recognising differences in the assimilative capacity of different resources. Both approaches have the same main objective namely to maintain the resource at a quality fit for use by other users. The same principle applies to discharges to the marine environment.

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