Flamingo Vlei homes flooded with sewage

Flamingo Vlei residents had an unpleasant experience over the weekend as their homes were flooded with sewage.

The City of Cape Town said on Friday, April 4, that there had been a disruption in the sewer operation in Table View.

“The City’s sewer pump station operation team encountered an overflow at the Table View East Pump station; they found that the drywell at the station had flooded. This was due to one of the two operational pumps having a loose drive shaft and that the second pump had tripped as a result of  being overloaded. The third pump was already out of service.”

Mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, visited Flamingo Vlei on Monday, April 7. Speaking at the corner of Hof Street and Sprigg Road, he said the sewer overflow had affected nine houses.

“Since Friday afternoon the teams have been working at the Table View East pump station where there is a breakdown of one of the pumps on site. This started when one pump was removed in order to do pro-active maintenance. The second pump then broke down, the third pump couldn't cope with the volumes, which resulted in tripping continuously causing the sewer to overflow at this particular area,” said Mr Badroodien.

He said this was not the first time they had sewage overflow in Flamingo Vlei, but this incident was the worst. He said City teams had been busy since Friday to fix the problem.

 “They have been there around the clock since Friday with suction tankers, also in and out with engineers to try to get into that pump,” said Mr Badroodien.

Mr Badroodien said on Sunday the team managed to get the wet well dry, but a few hours later it was flooded again.

At Hof Street, the City deployed four suction tankers to reduce the level of sewage in the road.

Mr Badroodien said the area would not be declared a disaster area and all measures were being taken to reduce the flooding.

"As it stands people have been removed from their houses only because they have been stuck inside for over two days. The Fire and Rescue team were worried about noxious fumes potentially having a health impact. I have reached out to our health scientific branch, to ask for a mobile hydrogen sulphide machine, because we are making assumptions at the moment that there is a health risk because of fumes. At the moment there are nine properties that have been evacuated, their pets are also being evacuated,” said Mr Badroodien.

He said the City would assist the residents to complete the public liability claim forms. He said the City would help to sanitise all affected properties. 

Paul Steyn, one of the residents whose property was flooded, said each time a car drove past, more sewage water was pushed into his home.