Master’s student researches waste in Umgeni River
Khan says that the recent KwaZulu-Natal weather disasters are a direct cause of climate change.
MORNINGSIDE resident Johara Khan is part of a local environmental research team that is studying the effects that plastic pollution has on our water sources, and is honing in on the Umgeni River to record pollution levels. Plastic pollution in oceans and rivers is a major environmental hazard, and pollution levels on riverbanks, coastlines and in the ocean are increasing every year. Plastic pollution is a danger to aquatic life, aquatic and land-based ecosystems, and human health.
Khan studied chemical engineering at Wits University in Johannesburg but found that her passion for the environment and environmental affairs led her to begin her master’s studies in waste and resource management last year. She forms part of a master’s research programme called Waste and Resource Management (WARM) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and they look at the effects of pollution on our provincial environment.
ALSO READ: Why is World Environment Day commemorated in June?
Khan says that the recent KwaZulu-Natal weather disasters are a direct cause of climate change. “Climate change has accelerated due to poor waste management. Improper landfilling and illegal dumping occur because many areas have an improper waste infrastructure. Since most materials that are disposed of are inorganic – plastics, food, wood or medicine, when they decompose, it releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is 28 times more toxic than carbon dioxide and extremely harmful to the ozone layer,” said Khan.
Khan said that not only are greenhouse gases emitted as the waste decomposes, but massive amounts of land are taken up by landfill sites. “Many people don’t know that landfill sites can be rehabilitated. If waste separation is made a priority, then a lot of the waste that ends up in landfills would not end up there. This would achieve the aim to increase land and save the air.”
Khan’s master’s thesis centres around the Umgeni River. She is looking into how rivers act as conduits of waste, meaning that rivers act as channels through which waste is transported and spread. “The waste that ends up in rivers and oceans is not only from cargo ships or coastal dumping. It also comes from far inland – due to improper waste management in communities and waste from illegal dump sites,” said Khan.
ALSO READ: From pollution to plate – how plastic impacts health
The Umgeni River is based in KwaZulu-Natal. It rises in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is in Durban, some distance north of Durban’s natural harbour. The name is taken to mean ‘the river of entrance’ in Zulu.
Khan went with the WARM team recently to work with local environmental organisation Green Corridors to track the levels of pollution in the Umgeni River. “Durban Green Corridors have litter booms installed along the Umgeni River. These litter booms trap and collect waste, Green Corridors then remove what can be recycled and the rest is taken to be landfilled,” said Khan.
“We were shocked at how much rubbish is collected by the litter booms! We saw nappies, condoms, pads, oil bottles, milk bottles and all kinds of waste, which we then sorted through,” said Khan.
The team separated the plastics and divided them into the seven main plastic groups: polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC or vinyl), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS or Styrofoam) and other plastics.
Khan said that there were a lot of polystyrene items which are extremely harmful to marine life, and she is concerned about how much of a health hazard the polluted water is for people. “It’s a bad situation because people bath in the water which is extremely unhygienic.”
The 26-year-old finishes her master’s degree this year and hopes to pursue a path in environmental engineering.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za). At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations. 
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Berea community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts. Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
