Wet wipes leading cause of sewage blockages

The City of Cape Town is appealing to residents to watch what they flush down toilets.

- STAFF REPORTER

This is after the City's water and sanitation teams have had to attend to 1 072 sewer blockages in Camps Bay, Bakoven, Clifton, and Sea Point from July 2023 to March 2025.

One of the main causes of these blockages was wet wipes being flushed down the toilet along with other items which do not belong in the sewer system.

During the 2023/2024 financial year, City teams attended to 585 sewer blockages, and in this 2024/2025 financial year, they have attended to 487 sewer blockages.

Identified causes of sewer blockages in Camps Bay, Bakoven, Clifton and Sea Point included:

• 26% foreign objects such as wet wipes, sanitary towels and nappies.

• 18% roots of trees

• 9% rags

• 6% fats from restaurants and eateries

• 8% other causes

• No cause was identified for 33% of reports. This could be a result of high flows due to rain which could have subsided by the time team went to site; a pump station failure which was resolved by the time of arrival on site, or even a blockage elsewhere that impacted several streets.

Camps Bay City Improvement District (CBCID) operations manager, Kyle Visagie, said the CID receives an average of 15 - 20 complaints per month related to sewage and blocked drains.