University questions accuracy of CSIR waste water in oceans report

UWC's chemistry professor Leslie Petrik says the CSIR report is based on probabilities therefore can't be accurate.

The Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has found that waste water outfalls into Cape Town’s oceans pose “no significant risk to human health”.

However, the University of the Western Cape chemistry professor Leslie Petrik has an issue with the findings.

She says although the CSIR is a reputable researcher, the report hasn't really gone deep enough.

If you read the report carefully you will see that the terms which they used are the same terms which scientists use basing things on probabilities.

Prof Leslie Petrik, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UWC

On top of that there are a lot of chemicals which they did not analyse in terms of microbial load, testing the samples twice a month.

Prof Leslie Petrik, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UWC

Petrik says taking a fixed point sample for marine indicators is not correct because the sewage which is dumped in the ocean moves around. They should be doing slow modeling, she says.

She advises that those who love swimming in the ocean should not swallow the water.

There are days when the water would be perfectly fine to swim in.

Prof Leslie Petrik, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UWC

To hear the rest of the interview, listen below:

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