Mower blocks drain

How do you mow down an old lawnmower? Well in Cape Town someone dumped their old machine in a stormwater drain.

This led to repeated stormwater overflow in Goodwood and a maintenance team was dispatched.

Officials were ''shocked'' to discover the lawnmower was the source of the problems this month.

''This find underscores the importance of the City’s illegal dumping campaign that was recently launched by Mayor [Patricia] De Lille which highlights and educates residents about illegal dumping as well as the improper disposal of inappropriate objects – such as lawnmowers and furniture – into the City’s stormwater and sewer pipelines,'' said Brett Herron the city’s mayoral committee member for transport.

Among the stranger objects often dumped are shopping trolleys, animal carcasses and gardening tools. The most common objects include rags, clothing and cement.

According to a statement by the city, Cape Town's stormwater network and systems includes 7500km of underground pipes and culverts - ''a distance equivalent to a flight from the Cape Town to Buenos Aires in Argentina''.

About 40% of the city's underground pipe and culvert network is older than 50 years. It will cost an estimated R13-billion to replace the stormwater management infrastructure.

"Due to budget constraints, however, the city can only spend up to R60-million per annum on upgrades and rehabilitation. Another R85-million is available for repairs and maintenance, but up to 90% of this budget is spent on cleaning mainly due to illegal dumping, grey and black water, sewer discharges and litter landing up in our stormwater system,'' said Herron.