Cape Town: The Wesfleur Domestic Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) was recently recognised as one of only 14 wastewater treatment works nationally to receive Green Drop Certification from the National Department of Water and Sanitation for exceptional operational performance. The facility also received Gold Status for achieving Green Drop Certification in two consecutive assessment cycles, scoring 100% in 2021 and 93.5% in 2024.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Water and Sanitation – Councillor Zahid Badroodien and Executive Director – Leonardo Manus recently celebrated the recognition, which places the facility and its operational team among the very best in the country.
The Wesfleur Domestic WWTW is located in the Atlantis industrial area and the site consists of two separate activated sludge plants.
The industrial plant, which treats industrial wastewater from Atlantis, was commissioned in 1978, while the domestic plant, which treats domestic wastewater, was commissioned in 1986. Treated effluent from the domestic plant is used to recharge the Atlantis Aquifer, a strategic water resource that contributes to the supply of drinking water to Atlantis and surrounding communities.
The plant consistently performs at a high standard, achieving microbiological, chemical and physical compliance levels of 98%, 95% and 98% respectively during the assessment period.
Cllr Badroodien said that the Green Drop certification is not a tick-box exercise. It is a rigorous regulatory assessment of how a facility is managed, operated and maintained over time. What drives results like this is the City’s commitment to invest in the right things: getting the staffing levels right, upskilling the people on the ground, maintaining the infrastructure and planning rather than reacting to crises.
These are the fundamentals that underpin the Water Strategy and long-term investment programme of the City of Cape Town. The Wesfleur team’s achievement demonstrates what can be accomplished when skilled people, sound infrastructure and sustained investment come together to deliver excellent outcomes for residents and the environment.
City focused on continuous improvement across wastewater treatment system. The City continues to invest in and improve its wastewater treatment systems as part of its commitment to becoming a water-sensitive city and protecting public health and the environment.
The City has noted a decline in its overall Green Drop performance, with the score decreasing from 88% in 2021 to 75% in 2024. Key actions already under way to improve performance include:
- Investing significantly in wastewater treatment infrastructure to increase their capacity to treat more wastewater as a growing city and improve treated effluent compliance, which benefits our environment.
- Upgrading wastewater conveyance systems and sewer pump stations.
- Actioning targeted, smaller-scale interventions at WWTWs not currently undergoing major capacity expansions.
While the City continues to demonstrate strong technical and operational capability, the latest Green Drop assessment identified several factors that contributed to the lower overall score.
It is important to note that Green Drop assessments evaluate both wastewater treatment works and their associated catchment systems, including sewer networks and pump stations. The assessment, therefore, measures far more than treated effluent quality alone and includes areas such as technical management, operational capacity, maintenance performance, asset management and capacity planning.
In addition, changes to key performance indicators, incentive allocations and penalty weighting between assessment cycles can influence overall scores and affect direct comparisons with previous years.
Although several smaller wastewater treatment works and their associated catchments continued to perform strongly, the overall score reflects increasing pressure on larger facilities serving rapidly growing and densifying communities.
Several major facilities, including Athlone, Bellville, Potsdam, Wesfleur Industrial and Zandvliet WWTWs, were also undergoing significant upgrades or expansion projects during the assessment period (July 2023 to June 2024), which inevitably affected operational performance and treated effluent quality during construction activities.