The City of Cape Town deployed the Otter weed harvester at Rietvlei last week.
The City’s deployment of a new weed harvester for Rietvlei last Thursday, as part of the more than R87 million in upgrades for the water body, has been welcomed by residents and civic groups.
The Otter, as the weed harvester is known, can cut, gather and remove weeds to improve water quality in the vlei.
Mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews says the City has pledged to improve the water quality and management of the vlei in Table View as well as others across the metro.
“Rietvlei is situated in the Table Bay Nature Reserve and is a popular recreational water body. I am confident that the addition of the Otter weed harvester will make a significant impact in improving the water quality.”
He added that the City planned to spend more than R400 million over the next three years on the rehabilitation of vleis across the metro.
Following years of complaints from residents and civic groups about high pollution levels at Rietvlei, the City earlier this year announced an R87.5 million upgrade there (“Major upgrade on Rietvlei canal,” Tabletalk, February 28).
The upgrades include:
• Lining the side slopes of the existing Bayside Canal immediately south of Blaauwberg Road.
• Providing floating litter booms to remove solid waste from the stormwater.
• Construction of parallel primary sedimentation ponds, a secondary treatment channel and reed bed ponds for further treatment to improve the quality of the water.
• Construction of a bypass channel.
• Construction of laydown areas next to the primary ponds and a secondary treatment channel for future maintenance of the ponds and canal.
Caroline Marx, the head of the Milnerton Central Residents’ Association’s environmental portfolio, said the reed beds laid out near Bayside Canal would help to filter and clean the stormwater before it entered Rietvlei.
“Otter will remove water weeds like hyacinth and water lettuce in an environmentally responsible, sustainable manner. This is part of a long-term plan, including reducing the amount of nutrients entering the wetlands from sewage spills, aimed at controlling these alien invasive plants,” she said.
“Elsewhere such as in the Vaal Dam, authorities have resorted to spraying the environmentally toxic and possibly carcinogenic herbicide Glyphosate to control these plants. This poison then enters the drinking water resource of millions of people without effectively addressing the underlying causes or long-term control. Thankfully in Cape Town there is more responsible and ethical management.”
Greater Table View Action Forum (GTAF) chairwoman Karen Davis said the upgrades would improve the vlei’s water quality.
“Much of the debris and junk that has been entering the vlei will be filtered out. Coupled with the acquisition of the Otter, this will certainly go a long way in ensuring better water quality in the vlei. The recreational users will be safe from the pollutants, but more so, we hope to see a return of many of the bird species and other animal life that has decreased in recent years.
“As an organisation, we are most optimistic about a cleaner, healthier environment for all.”