Investigating the impact of effluent from wastewater treatment works on river water quality, Baths River, Caledon, Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is facing a problem of many municipal waste water treatment works (WWTW) not working efficiently. The environmental impacts of poorly treated effluents on receiving water bodies have required special attention from researchers. In this study, the relationships between water quality variables in the Baths River in the Western Cape province of South Africa were evaluated upstream, at the source and downstream of the Caledon wastewater treatment works between March 2013 to March 2016. The assumption has been tested that water quality is deteriorating downstream of the Caledon Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) discharge point in the Baths River and are affected by this change in water quality.