Cleaning opeation at the cave Sainte-Anne, school-cave very visited and very damaged, mainly by huge deposits of soot on the walls. The cave has, certainly, be visited with flambeau during last century, but 50 years of intensive visiting with carbide lamps have done the rest…
The protective Committee of karst and access to cves (CPA) of the Speleology Belgian Union mobilized to repair the outrage of the past and to clean the cave. The work last during 3 days, hundreds of meters of electric lines have been set in place to power the pumps and karschers and recover the immaculate moldings under the black deposits.
We used only water from underground river and delicate or tight parts have been cleaned with hand sprayer.
We try to repair errors from the past but in the same time to work on the abandonment of the carbide lamps in Belgium, obsolete as a lighting means and extremely polluting on the long-term.

By : Vincent Gerber
Team members : Comission protection du karst et accès aux cavités (CPA)
Original title : Opération Mr Propre à la grotte Sainte-Anne
Languages : French
Release date : 25/08/2012
Club / structure : Union Belge de Spéléologie