WATCH: What a water-testing kit reveals about the Umbilo River

WATER testing along Umbilo River has revealed worrying E. coli levels. This according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), a non-profit civil action group which launched their WaterCAN (Community Action Network) project last year.

This week, Berea Mail met with WaterCAN’s KwaZulu-Natal representative Jonathan Erasmus as he collected a sample of river water near the intersection of Bartle and Oliver Lea roads in Umbilo. This follows ongoing testing along the Umbilo River, which spans 40km, flowing through residential, industrial and protected areas before reaching the ocean via the port of Durban.

According to Erasmus, E. coli tests undertaken by Talbot Laboratories reveal that the E. coli levels downstream from the Umbilo Wastewater Treatment Works (UWWTW), situated near Pinetown, were drastically higher than upstream.
“The upstream E. coli count was 5 810/100ml while it measured as 61 310/100ml downstream from the treatment works. A water body is deemed critical and dangerous to human health if the E. coli level is in excess of 400/100ml. The water samples evaluated were obtained on February 2,” he said.

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For Erasmus, these results indicate a mismanagement of wastewater systems, a point OUTA hopes to contest.
“Earlier this month, the City squandered approximately R500 000 on a council meeting which the governing party deliberately collapsed due to its own internal political issues. This type of reckless spending is completely unwarranted, especially when we have wastewater treatment plants that are clearly not working and which require urgent capital investment,” said Erasmus.

eThekwini Municipality’s head of communications Lindiwe Khuzwayo said infrastructure damage sustained at UWWTW during the April floods of 2022 has impacted water quality.
“Sewer lines there were washed away during the floods and still must be fixed. From time to time, we also experience blocked or damaged sewer lines and pumpstation failures,” she said.

Khyzwayo added that only the west side of the plant is in operation.
“The east side is currently closed as it was severely damaged. Work is ongoing to effect repairs,” she said.

Another area of concern for Erasmus is Blue Lagoon on the Umgeni River where an E. coli count of 10 810 000/100ml was recorded.
“If we take a wider view of the critical state of the city’s river systems and in the context of eThekwini Metropolitan’s consistent failures to take the sewage crisis seriously, we are presented with an extremely worrying picture,” he said.

Khuzwayo said some beaches near Blue Lagoon remain closed due to challenges.
“Beaches close to river mouths were closed, especially where there were known upstream challenges,” she said.

Creating a water-quality map

The WaterCAN project began last year under the leadership of OUTA’s Water and Environment manager, Dr Ferrial Adam.
“In September last year, we put out 100 water-testing kits throughout the country and asked the public to do a series of tests – whether it was at home or in a river or stream. The idea was to get a map of what the quality of water was across the country,” said Erasmus.

Participants were required to upload the information they collected onto a purpose-built web-based platform which assisted in creating a map. The map portal was formally launched to the general public this week.
“Without quality and meaningful information, it is difficult to hold those in authority to account over unsafe water. We want to empower the public to collect and share water data,” said Erasmus.

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WaterCAN recently partnered with environmental non-profit organisation Adopt-A-River to monitor water quality through Talbot Laboratories as well as the WaterCAN test kits.
“The WaterCAN tests mirrored the Talbot results and also found high traces of E. coli (human waste) and coliform, which indicates elevated levels of animal waste and decomposed plant matter, as well as several chemical parameters, which found prominent levels of phosphates, normally found in fertilisers,” said Erasmus.

Janet Simpkins of Adopt-a-River said they were joining forces with WaterCAN to keep the public informed.
“By shining the spotlight on the crisis with facts like test results, we hope to continue the pressure and together raise awareness to national government that intervention at infrastructure level is long overdue and critical,” Simpkins said.

For more information, visit www.watercan.org.za

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