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CoCT approves “packaged plants” as alternative to septic or conservancy tanks

By May 14, 2026May 15th, 2026Civic, NRPA Notification, Spotlight

Dear Noordhoekers,

There are at least 1,500 households in the Southern suburbs which are not connected to the Municipal Waterborne sewage system, like Noordhoek, mostly due to historical reasons. These households have traditionally relied on septic tanks and soak aways for the treatment of their sewage and regular sampling of ground water samples (at least in Noordhoek) have shown that no contamination is being found. This can be contributed to the force of Mother Nature as well as the relatively low density of development.

Due to reasons which are not completely clear the national Department of Water and Sanitation decided recently that new septic tanks / soak aways are no longer allowed to be installed in new builds (they are still allowed to be replaced in situations where a septic tank was installed before). This meant that until now households were forced to install conservancy tanks, which have a number of disadvantages: they need regular (costly) cleaning, they are expensive to install and they require treatment capacity at the municipal sewage treatment which is already under strain.

After hearing that CoCT already mandated so called “packaged plants” to be installed at every new commercial development (the waterfront expansion is a good example), and that packaged plants are already being used widely in ecologically sensitive areas across SA, the ratepayers of Noordhoek, Scarborough, Zwaanswijk and Constantia worked together to petition CoCT to allow these plants on residential properties within Cape Town as well. The resulting SOP (attached below) indicates in which instances packaged plants will be allowed to be installed. Kudo’s to CoCT for making this possible.

What are packaged plants?

They are essentially small scale, modular waste water treatment plants, suitable for household grey and black water, which treat the effluent to a level that allows it to be re-used for irrigation. There are multiple providers of packaged plants active in the SA market (some mentioned below) and their cost is comparable to a septic tank / soak away combination or conservancy tank (R100k for a 4 person household).
Examples of packaged plants can be found on these websites:
WRC report on packaged plants for residential purposes (2009): https://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/K5%201869-09.pdf

What is the advantage of packaged plants over conservancy tanks?

  1. No honeysucker costs (approx R15k/year for a 5kl conservancy tank which is cleaned every month)
  2. Lower maintenance cost compared to honeysucker costs
  3. No need for municipal sewage treatment capacity
  4. Re-use of effluent for irrigation is possible

Why is this relevant to you?

  1. You might have a conservancy tank and may opt for a packaged plant instead to avoid high annual cleaning costs
  2. You may be doing a new build,  in which case a packaged plant would be advised since it is roughly the same cost to install and has much lower annual operational costs
  3. You may be an architect, draughtsman or plumber and can advise your clients of this new option

Can residents install these packaged plants now?

Enclosed you will find the newly approved “SOP” that council will use to determine if a packaged plant can be installed by a household. You will notice in paragraph 5 that CoCT will use a few criteria for eligibility:
  • 5.1: whether a waterborne reticulation system is available for the household to use (now as well as in the future)
  • 5.2: whether the household lies in an environmentally sensitive areas, including wetlands, floodplains, conservation areas or areas with high groundwater levels
We have asked CoCT to clarify these 2 points, and in answer we’ve had confirmation that a household will not be forced to connect to the expansion of the waterborne reticulation system (in other words: there is no risk of an investment becoming worthless) and that even households that lie in environmentally sensitive areas will be allowed to apply, but that DEADP (WC province planning & environment) will have to approve. In the words of Pierre Black (CoCT): “During your application process the city administration will advise if the property is in an environmentally sensitive area. It is worthwhile noting that if a property is in an environmentally sensitive area, it does not automatically exclude them from having a stand-alone package plant. There will be an additional requirement on that property to apply to the Department of Environment and Development Planning for permission to have a package plant in an environmentally sensitive area. According to our team they don’t foresee this being a difficult application, but it is needed to ensure the natural environment is protected. All application processes and contact details of the supporting departments will be provided through the application process.”

Attachments:

  1. Packaged plant infographic
  2. CoCT standard operating procedure (link) Package Plants for Single residential properties SOP

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