Cape Town's Oceans, Rivers, and Aquifers under Threat: Scientists Warn of Contamination Risks

Contaminated water bodies pose a significant threat to the health of citizens in Cape Town, South Africa. Urban water bodies, including rivers, lakes, and oceans, are under danger due to large sewage volumes, which damage the environment and release chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds that do not break down on their own. These pollutants build up in living tissues along the food chain, causing health risks. The city of Cape Town discharges over 40 megalitres of raw sewage directly into the Atlantic Ocean every day.

Key Takeaways:

• The city of Cape Town discharges over 40 megalitres of raw sewage directly into the Atlantic Ocean every day, posing significant health risks to citizens.
• Large volumes of poorly treated sewage and runoff from shack settlements enter rivers and both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, further contaminating the environment.
• Independent studies and reports have been met with hostile responses from top city officials and politicians, subjecting scientists to attacks and demands for apologies.
• Research findings have been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and communicated to the public through articles in the media, a website, and a documentary.
• The city's water treatment infrastructure is identified as unworkable for a city of over 5 million people, highlighting the need for an overhaul of the approach to wastewater treatment.
• Four sub-categories of contaminant communication events were identified, including non-disclosure of data, misinformation, using city-funded science to bolster political authority, and relying on point data.
• Conflicts of interest, incomplete data release, and reputational harm to the science community are among the issues that need to be addressed to ensure effective science communication and protect public health.

Statistics:

• 300km of coastline along two bays and a peninsula in the city of Cape Town
• Over 40 megaliters of raw sewage discharged into the Atlantic Ocean every day
• 2 decades of large consultancies providing scientific certification, raising concerns about the independence of their findings
• 12-month rolling average of ocean contaminant data, which can smooth out very high values and underrepresent the reality of risks

Sources:

• The Conversation -- Africa -- By Lesley Green, Professor of Earth Politics and Director: Environmental Humanities South, University of Cape Town
• Library.oapen.org: (http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/39424)
• theconversation.com: Cape Town's sewage treatment isn't coping: scientists are worried about what the city is telling the public (https://theconversation.com/cape-towns-sewage-treatment-isnt-coping-scientists-are-worried-about-what-the-city-is-telling-the-public-260317)
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