The biggest concern about waste water being pumped into the ocean is not the sewage itself but the chemical compounds used in and around the house to clean up the toilet afterwards. Two top Cape Town scientists believe the City of Cape Town's dirty habit of pumping some of its waste water into the sea could have nasty consequences."The council doesn't even know what is going out of the pipes now," said University of the Western Cape chemistry department's Professor Leslie Petrik."They haven't been monitoring what has been going out."Petrik, a specialist in water treatment, said waste water contained thousands of potentially harmful chemical compounds.Of particular concern are so-called "endocrine disruptor" chemicals which are contained in many household detergents and are known to cause hormonal changes in animals.These compounds do not decompose in the ocean.She said the diluting waste water did not remedy the situation."Dilution is no solution. Once you've released those compounds into the ocean you can't get them back," Petrik said.Her concern is shared by University of Cape Town's Professor Charles Griffiths, who said there was a lack of independent monitoring of ocean "outfalls"."There isn't anybody in South Africa who is working on this type of thing in a holistic way," he said.Ironically, South Africa's water treatment is relatively advanced, if not always properly implemented.Waste water can even be treated to the point of drinking quality."From an engineering point of view it is totally possible," Griffiths said. "It is a matter of how much we are prepared to invest in purifying our water, given the limited budget."Cape Town's ocean discharge policy has come under fire in recent weeks following the publication of photographs showing what appear to be large plumes of waste water drifting not far from well-known beaches.Petrik said it was strange that Cape Town should not be held to the same standards as other South African cities."Why is it that the city is willing to properly treat the effluent of about 80% of its population, but refuses to properly treat the 20% sitting along the Atlantic seaboard? Every other city is obliged to treat its effluent properly," she said.Department of Environmental Affairs spokesman Zolile Nqayi said the department was currently reviewing all waste water discharges, which will assist in its decision to "either prohibit or authorise the discharge with specific conditions"...