Abstract

Urban litter pollution is a persistent problem in rivers, canals and drainage pipelines throughout South Africa. Part of an integrated approach to achieve a reduction of litter pollution in the stormwater systems involves the development of optimized strategies for the removal of litter from the pipelines and canals. This can only be achieved by developing a clearer understanding of the volume, source and distribution of litter within South African stormwater systems.

This chapter presents a study in which a litter generation model was developed to estimate the source and quantities of litter in the upper reaches of the Lotus River and lower reaches of the Salt River catchments. Using GIS modeling techniques, the litter generation model integrated land-use data sets with litter wash-off rates for various land-use types to determine the quantity of litter generated from discrete sub-catchments within the study area.

This model was then used as an aid in selecting the most appropriate litter removal devices in optimal locations within the study area to achieve the greatest litter removal at the lowest cost. A practical phased implementation program was thus developed for the City of Cape Town that could potentially remove 65% of the litter from the rivers and canals in the study area.

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