The recent water tests conducted by the Milnerton Aquatic Club (Mac) through private laboratories show much lower E.coli levels in Rietvlei than samples taken by the City of Cape Town.
The City closed the Rietvlei twice last year because of water quality concerns.
The vlei was reopened early in November last year after its closure for more than three months in June 2021 due to water quality that deteriorated below the level deemed safe for recreational use.
The vlei has since been closed again due to high E.coli levels.
Katja Haslinger, Mac conservation officer, says they have been testing the water since August 2021 on a regular basis.
“One of the reasons is that it is always difficult to receive the results from the City. We often have to beg, send multiple emails and reminders until we receive the results. We also did (additional) tests in the influx channels in order to prove where the pollution comes from. We experienced in the past that the City summarised their own test results wrong, or confused microgram with milligram, etc. so we need to make sure that what they tell us is correct,” Haslinger says.
She claims that the City uses any opportunity to close the waterbody either by misinterpretation of guidelines or regulations or dubious test results – as the one from 17 January where the City measured over 1 mio cfu/100 ml (E.coli) within the waterbody. “This was the highest reading ever I know of. In order for a huge water body like Rietvlei with depths up to 9 m, to show more than 1 mio E.coli/100 ml, tons of sewage must have flown into Rietvlei,” she says.
Haslinger told TygerBurger that many members have already indicated not to renew their membership for next year due to the closure of Rietvlei.
“Mac is trying to generate income by focusing on their social events on land and inviting the public to Mac. Not only has Mac suffered, but also local businesses. Our instructors have lost their income as they can’t give any lessons, the local retailers and service providers (repair, rental) are losing out on money as overseas watersport tourists are staying away due to the closure of the lake. The restaurants and bars, as well as guest houses, are losing a lot of money from the decreasing number of international watersport tourists,” she says.
On 3 February, Mac and the City did a joint sampling where they split the samples among various parties including the City’s scientific services branch, the national water and sanitation department, the SABS, and Mac.
“Sadly, the City does not seem to understand how urgent the situation is. We had asked for a meeting with the City since the beginning of December 2021 and the first meeting was planned only for today, 4 February (2 months later). The Rietvlei waterbody is heavily eutrophic, i.e. full of phosphates and nutrients and we have pondweed growing along the whole shoreline as well as in the middle of the lake. We never had this in the past and the lake is slowly overgrowing with pondweed and filamentous algae,” she says.
According to the City’s Mayco member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, the City has, in response to the concerns raised by Mac, proposed that a joint sampling event be undertaken at Rietvlei.
“This joint sampling took place on Wednesday 3 February by the City’s scientific services branch, the national water and sanitation department, the SABS, and Mac. This is to address the concerns raised by Mac in a scientifically sound manner with the participation of all relevant stakeholders,” he says.
All stakeholders have sent their samples to their relevant laboratories for analysis and will wait for their feedback. The City’s environmental management department can only open the Rietvlei based on sampling results from the City’s scientific services branch and upon recommendation from the City’s department for environmental health,” Badroodien says.
To date, since May 2021, the City has done almost nothing to treat the water, says Haslinger, “but they sit and wait for the problem to go away. They think that the reopening of the lake will solve the problem but it doesn’t.
“Mac is not only interested in its own survival but its members are nature lovers who want to ensure that this lake will be usable for their own children for recreational purposes. So we will continue to liaise and assist the City in taking the correct measures in order to prevent further sewage spills into this nature reserve.”
