Cape Town Affirms 'Consistently High' Quality of Beach Water -

The City of Cape Town maintains that its popular beaches have shown “consistently high water quality” during the holiday season, countering claims made by environmental activists.

A statement issued on Monday afternoon noted that all 297 water samples gathered from designated swimming areas in the city’s “30 most popular coastal recreational zones” met recreational use standards throughout the festive period.

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This response comes after a statement from the ‘Bays of Sewage’ community organization, backed by three academics including water expert Professor Anthony Turton, who argues that the City of Cape Town is “economical with the truth” regarding water quality and the blue flag status of certain beaches.

“From a scientific sampling perspective, the testing protocols used by the City of Cape Town are inadequate and misleading for drawing the conclusions presented, therefore, claiming that the beaches are safe for swimming is misleading,” Turton states.

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The statement references a recent investigative report – Project Blue – conducted by Dr. Jo Barnes from Stellenbosch University and Professor Leslie Petrik from the University of the Western Cape.

The findings indicated that three out of seven water samples taken from two Blue Flag beaches between November 26 and December 6 exceeded recommended limits for the bacteria enterococci—one from Camps Bay and two from Clifton 4th Beach.

Both enterococci and E. coli are bacteria associated with sewage pollution in water.

Project Blue

Project Blue was a focused citizen initiative assessing seawater quality at selected beaches throughout the Cape Peninsula, specifically on the Table Bay and False Bay sides. Sampling occurred in these areas during November and December.

The results showed that safety limits for E. coli and enterococci were surpassed on 42% of sampling days on the Table Bay side, while 38% of days on the False Bay side reported unsafe contamination levels.

Particularly concerning were the readings from the Soet River Mouth in Strand, which presented “exceptionally high” bacterial counts, posing significant public health risks.

Recommendations

The report encourages the city to pursue objective and independent evaluations of water quality at its beaches that are “not conducted fully or partially by the city.”

The researchers argue that testing for E. coli and enterococci is the standard approach to detecting sewage presence in environmental waters.

Read: Cape Town’s ocean-bound sewage options unveiled

“Traditionally, the guidance has been to test for E. coli in freshwater and enterococci in brackish or seawater; however, in recent years, relying solely on one of these organisms leads to an underestimation of risk.”

The researchers advocate for the inclusion of both organisms in all testing procedures, asserting that relying on only one could result in misleading conclusions about risk in an “unacceptable number of cases.”

City’s response

According to the City of Cape Town’s statement, extensive sampling has been carried out at its beaches, with “hundreds of samples” analyzed independently by a laboratory accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (Sanas) for seawater testing.

The results indicated “consistently high” water quality.

The city underscores that enterococci counts are regarded as the “internationally recognized gold standard” for assessing coastal water quality concerning human health risks.

However, they “acknowledge the findings” from the Project Blue report and have requested further information from the authors.

Read: Half of South Africa’s sewage treatment works are failing

“Over the past year, a rigorous high-frequency sampling program has been implemented at various beaches. Summary reports detailing water quality at these locations are now available on the city’s website,” it states.

Additionally, updates on weekly water samples will be provided throughout the festive season until the end of January 2025.

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