{"id":808870,"date":"2025-01-27T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=808870"},"modified":"2025-01-27T16:33:44","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T14:33:44","slug":"one-of-south-africas-biggest-dams-is-so-polluted-you-cannot-see-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/808870\/one-of-south-africas-biggest-dams-is-so-polluted-you-cannot-see-the-water\/","title":{"rendered":"One of South Africa’s biggest dams is so polluted you cannot see the water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hartbeespoort Dam is so polluted that a hyacinth mat covers the surface, making it dangerous for boaters and harming the ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hartbeespoort Dam, also known as Harties, was constructed 100 years ago and was renovated in 1969.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dam wall is 149.5 metres long and 59.4 metres high, and it can store 195 million cubic metres of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is built across a gorge cutting through the Magaliesberg, and the Crocodile and Magalies Rivers feed the dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hartbeespoort Dam supplies water through a network of canals to farms which grow tobacco, wheat, lucerne, fruit, and flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also a popular holiday and weekend destination for people in Johannesburg and Pretoria due to its proximity to these cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, water sports enthusiasts have used the dam. The TYC Yacht Club has operated at the dam since its construction in 1923.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NSRI Station 25, located at the dam, is one of only three National Sea Rescue Institute inland stations and provides a water rescue service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Hartbeespoort Dam has become so polluted and overgrown with hyacinths that it is no longer safe for water sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water hyacinth, known as the world\u2019s worst water weed, is an invasive plant that grows in polluted water and further compromises water quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In years gone by, the whole Hartbeespoort Dam surface was clear with no hyacinth cover at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, poorly maintained wastewater treatment plants in the Hartbeespoort Dam catchment area have caused havoc with the ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sewage from Johannesburg and the surrounding towns flows into Hartbeespoort Dam, causing excess nutrients in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads to an overgrowth of algae and hyacinths, harming the environment and people and animals using the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has reached such concerning levels that the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has issued a warning to water sports enthusiasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NSRI urgently requested boaters to refrain from attempting to navigate through the water hyacinth mats at Hartbeespoort Dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The water hyacinth causes a substantial danger to small craft users at Hartbeespoort dam and should never be entered by any craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder no circumstances should boaters try to navigate through the water hyacinth. By doing this, they are risking their lives,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rescuing people in boats entrapped by water hyacinths is a complex operation and will not be necessary if people do not enter the water hyacinth mats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2024, the DA highlighted that untreated sewage continues to flow directly into Swartspruit, ultimately contaminating the Hartbeespoort Dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DA alerted the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation to the severe risk of untreated sewage spilling into Swartspruit,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA bemoaned the ongoing neglect, saying Hartbeespoort residents continued to bear the brunt of administrative failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images below, courtesy of Chris Hart<\/a>, the NSRI<\/a>, and Yusuf Abramjee<\/a>, show the problems at the Hartbeespoort Dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hartbeespoort Dam covered with hyacinths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Hartbeespoort Dam is so polluted that a hyacinth mat covers the surface, making it dangerous for boaters and harming the ecosystem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":808871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[21557,21558,21559],"class_list":["post-808870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-hartbeespoort-dam","tag-magaliesberg","tag-nsri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808870"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":808887,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808870\/revisions\/808887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}