- The City of Cape Town is investing R796 million to rehabilitate 28 km of sewers across the Cape Flats.
- With this project they’re aiming to enhance sanitation services for approximately 275,000 households in various suburbs.
- With 25% of the project complete, the extensive sewer upgrade is slated for completion next year, bolstering infrastructure resilience and lifespan.
Steady progress is being made on South Africa’s largest sewer upgrade project, that will see 28 km of sewers rehabilitated.
The City of Cape Town is investing R796 million on the Cape Flats Bulk Sewer rehabilitation with the aim to improve sanitation services for around 275 000 households in Athlone, Hanover Park, Lotus River, Ottery, Grassy Park, Eagle Park, Pelican Park, and surrounding areas.
With around 25% complete at 7 km of this extensive, multi-phase sewer rehabilitation project, the full scope of the work is set to be completed next year.
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This bulk sewer serves an estimated 8 000-hectare catchment area across the Cape Flats. It also provides a critical link to transfer flow between two bulk wastewater catchment areas. A significant portion of the inflow originates from the Raapenberg and Bridgetown pump stations, extending approximately 14 km to the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment Works.
“Our Cape Flats bulk sewer system is a critical sewer system in this general area. It serves large communities all the way to Athlone Wastewater Treatment Works and a number of communities between that,” says Mayco member for water and waste, Dr Zahid Badroodien.
This means there has been a build-up of soil or sand in the pipeline.
“Two things needed to happen, we needed to clear the pipe so that more sewage could flow through it and then secondly, we needed to reinforce the pipe as well so that we could expand and increase the longevity of the pipe,” he says.
Since the Cape Flats Bulk Sewers were originally built in the 1960s, residential and business areas have expanded. Maintaining the credibility of this infrastructure is crucial for it to continue functioning effectively, benefiting the public not only today but for years to come, says the City in a statement.
Flagship project
“This is a critical project for us, we’re spending a significant amount of money to try and rehabilitate that programme so that we can reduce the impact of sewer overflows, sewer collapses and then maintain the integrity of that particular sewer network in the long term,” says Badroodien.
This is a flagship rehabilitation project for the City.
says Badroodien.
This extensive rehabilitation is vital to ensure the City’s infrastructure will be able to accommodate more sewage flow from the increasingly populated areas it services, future-proofing it for an ever growing city. It will also help restore the structural integrity of the pipes, preventing leaks and groundwater ingress, so that the system can continue conveying sewage from properties to pump stations and wastewater treatment works. The rehabilitation project will also protect the internal surfaces of the concrete pipes from more corrosion, which is naturally caused by hydrogen sulphide gas that is released from oxidised sewage. The existing sewer manholes will also be rehabilitated.
According to the City, besides using trenchless technology, which ensures that work is able to continue with minimal disruptions to residents and business in the area, this project sets itself apart from other projects of its kind.
The only visible sign that work of this magnitude is being carried out is in the form of some staff and vehicles at manhole access points. Meanwhile underground, the pipeline is profiled by a robotic crawler, which uses lasers to record the state of the inside of the pipe. Data is then sent to officials above ground who are able to determine exactly which method to use for rehabilitation.
