The pump station failure that led to the closure of the beach last night has been resolved, and the affected area has been cleaned.

The City of Cape Town has reopened Clifton First Beach that was cordoned off for public use on the evening of Monday, 27 March 2022.

The situation was caused by a sewer pump station failure at Clifton First, resulting in wastewater pooling on the beach.

Various City departments were activated to respond to the incident.

This included the repairs to the pump station, the construction of a berm to prevent wastewater from contaminating the seawater, cordoning off the affected area and erecting signage advising the public of the situation.

The pump station is fully operational once more, and the affected beach area has been cleaned.

The contaminated sand was bagged and removed from the beach for disposal.

The cause of the failure of the first pump is attributed to motor winding failure and the second pump failure is attributed to rags being caught in the pump preventing the impeller from displacing fluid resulting in mechanical and electrical damage within the pump.

We thank the public’s cooperation during this time.

Source: City Of Cape Town