Marine Outfall Studies in Development Areas of South Africa

Abstract

A recent policy of decentralizing growth in South Africa has led to the designation of neu coastal development areas. Growth of such areas, stimulated by the attraction of industries should be accompanied by a careful assessment of possible associated marine pollution problems. In particular, the disposal of industrial and/or domestic effluents to sea may initially appear an attractive option to planners and developers. Consequently the investigation of the feasibility of the marine disposal option is an essential component of the planning process. An on-going series of such studies in nominated priority coastal development areas has been undertaken by the National Research Institute for Oceanology since 1980. This paper reviews the progress of these studies and outlines the preliminary engineering and oceanographic investigations. Two case studies, Saldanha and Richards Bay, are reviewed. In the latter case, some interesting design aspects of the recently completed outfall are discussed.