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| Cableway Cuts Summit Wastewater |
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| Written by Enviroadmin |
| Monday, 24 May 2010 16:35 |
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The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company has slashed the amount of wastewater produced at the summit from about 25 000 litres a week to just 5 000 litres. Dealing with waste water on top of the mountain was becoming a major problem, with hikers complaining the toilet soakaway system wasn't working properly. The company had to keep staff working long hours to take 5 000 litres of wastewater down in the cable cars nightly. Now an average of just 5 000 litres is produced weekly from the Table Mountain Café and the toilets. Fresh municipal water is taken to the upper station in 5 000-litre stainless steel tanks which are built into the base of the cable cars. From the upper station it is pumped to a reservoir. Environmental control officer Bonte Edwards said the amount of wastewater produced had become untenable and a major rethink was needed. The savings have been achieved partly by replacing the crockery used in the restaurant with disposable plates made of bagasse. This byproduct of sugarcane breaks down into compost. All cooking is now done at the lower cable station's kitchen and taken to the summit where it is rewarmed, so cooking utensils are washed below. Drinks are still served in cups and glasses, but these are washed in a special dishwasher that uses limited water. The toilets have also been changed. Edwards said the new pressurised toilets - "Boeing" toilets made of stainless steel - used just one cup of water per flush, as opposed to the nine litres per flush used in conventional toilets. Previously waste from the toilets had gone into a septic tank and soakaway system, but this had become overextended by the number of visitors to the summit. Now there are five women's and two men's toilets, two waterless urinals and one "conventional" toilet for the disabled. Edwards said the waterless urinals, in particular, had resulted in a huge reduction in wastewater. Wastewater is pumped from a storage tank into 3 500-litre tanks which are hooked under the cable cars. At the lower station the wastewater is pumped into holding tanks from where it feeds into the municipal sewer system. During the peak season, when more than 100 000 visitors a month go up in the cable cars, wastewater is brought down twice a week. But in the quieter winter months, when the number of visitors drops to 30 000 a month, it is brought down once a week. This results in a saving of night staff payments and cable-car running costs. "As we take all drinking water up and bring all wastewater down, we need to be very aware of our water consumption, and water-saving measures are a high priority," said Edwards. Source: http://www.capeargus.co.za/ |
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