Overstrand Municipality has reported that a section of the Klein River Estuary, directly in front of the Hermanus Scout Camp, has been temporarily closed due to a sewage spill at the municipal pump station inside the Scout Camp.
Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill said the incident occurred on Tuesday 13 February at around 10:30, after a failure at the electrical control panel prevented the pump from starting.
“The telemetry alarm was received, and the maintenance team responded,” he explained. “Repairs were carried out, but minor spillages took place before the station was back in operation.”
Warning signs have been erected on instruction from Overberg District Municipality (ODM). The public is warned not to swim in front of the Hermanus Scout Camp until further notice.
The signs will be removed once water sample results from the estuary are found to be within ODM’s recreational water quality standards.
“The spillage would have no impact on the Blue Flag beach swimming area, as the incident took place some distance from the Blue Flag beach,” O’Neill pointed out. “Water samples at the Blue Flag beach are taken regularly.”
The municipality urges residents to use water sparingly, as higher stages of load shedding put tremendous pressure on Overstrand Municipality’s ability to provide communities with enough water.
“Please use water sparingly, as this assists in adequately replenishing reservoir levels,” cautioned O’Neill. “The sanitation infrastructure is also under increasing pressure during the long bouts of load shedding. Please only flush toilets when absolutely necessary.”
One water-saving measure is flushing the toilet only when necessary, keeping the “If it’s yellow, let it mellow” philosophy in mind.