Failure of Camps Bay Marine Outfall Plant (MOP)

The temporary collapse of the Marine Outfall Plant (MOP) on Camps Bay beach has highlighted the problems around such operations, which have been repeatedly brought to the City’s attention over many years.

The chaos of this last weekend - and as will be the case in the days to follow - have been well documented on social media and in the press.

The absolute irony of the situation is that the City have reacted to the emergency with great speed and resources but fail to comprehend that when this MOP is repaired, it is simply pumping the same (millions) of litres of raw sewerage/day a few hundred meters further into the bay. This intolerable situation has been covered up by officials and politicians alike over the years.

High level scientific research by Stellenbosch University, UCT and UWC has confirmed that the MOP’s at Hout Bay, Camps Bay and Mouille Point are polluting the local coastal waters and destroying marine life. In fact, many species of marine organisms have already been destroyed.

The previous Mayco Member for Water and Waste Services concocted all sorts of excuses to ignore the science attached to these “dinosaur” plants, so the CBCRA sincerely hopes that the new incumbent, Dr Zahid Badroodien will take this matter seriously.

The City have encouraged - and benefitted financially from - massive development along the Atlantic Seaboard but fail to do any infrastructural upgrades on the sewerage system(s).

The disaster of the Potsdam Water Treatment Plant and the absolute pollution of the Milnerton Lagoon and riverine system is a case in point. In a matter of a few days, the City went from approving massive developments in the area to putting a total moratorium on any substantial developments. The local ratepayer organisations and scientific community had been warning of the impending catastrophe for years but the City remained deaf and blind to reality until it was too late.

The CBCRA has, for years, offered to work with the City in addressing this problem but has simply been ignored. One feasible solution would be to install an underground water treatment plant in the area between Glen Beach and Clifton. Modern plants are not visible above ground nor sources of smell and, once in place, say under the sports field in that area, the surface can return to a reasonable normal.

Now is the time for the City to enter into meaningful discussions with the community, as it is essential that the City and its citizens should be ensuring that our coastal waters are not polluted.

For years the City tried to “spin” the story that MOP’s are treatment plants. They are not! They simply macerate the raw sewerage and pump it out into the bay - for the sea tides to decide where the millions of litres of effluent finally wash ashore. 

It’s a disgrace!