Rife river pollution threatens water supply

WIDESPREAD pollution is plaguing KwaZulu-Natal’s rivers, says local NPO, SaveOurRiversZA. The extent of the problem was highlighted as they cleared a mass of disposable nappies from the banks of the Msunduzi River in the Mkhambatini municipality. This runs into Inanda Dam which supplies Durban’s drinking water, said Kim Pople of SaveOurRiversZA.

“Having recently flown over the river system from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, it is heartbreaking to visually see the magnitude of the task at hand for everyone involved. The volume of litter from plastic to nappies along the system is daunting for all. This is larger than any one organisation – a massive co-ordinated project is needed between the government, the manufacturers, the retailers, NGO’s and volunteer groups to every citizen. Change needs to happen before it is too late,” she said.

Shami Harichunder, corporate stakeholder at Umgeni Water echoed these views.

“Partnerships with communities are strategically important to supporting Umgeni Water’s ability to meet current and future demand, ensuring reliability of supply and sustainability of the environment,” he said.

For Teboho Kikine, who is part of a clean up crew that works part time for SaveOurRiversZA, pollution is worsening.

“There is more and more pollution. We mostly see 2 litre plastic bottles and polystyrene. I think we need to find a way to recycle these products,” he said.

Kikine and his team were hard at work at Blue Lagoon cleaning the area ahead of the Dusi Canoe Marathon.

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Our water supply

Umgeni Water sources raw water from catchments within its operational area that spans 94 359 square kilometres in KwaZulu-Natal, said Harichunder. Raw water makes its way into river systems that flow into 15 dams and then 20 water treatment plants operated by uMgeni Water which supplies 472 million cubic metres of drinking water per annum – or 1 294 megalitres per day – to eThekwini Metro, Msunduzi Local Municipality and uMgungundlovu, iLembe, Harry Gwala, Ugu and uThukela District Municipalities. These municipalities supply the treated water to domestic, business, industrial and public sector consumers.

“It is vitally important that the raw water Umgeni Water receives for treatment from its dams is of an acceptable quality. Excessively contaminated or polluted raw water is costly to treat, although treating it is possible because the processes Umgeni Water uses are both sophisticated and modern. Costly treatment of water ultimately impacts on the tariff at which water boards sell potable water and this, in turn, impacts on the tariff at which municipalities sell water to consumers,” said Harichunder.

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Vital greenbelts and wetlands

He added that Umgeni Water is undertaking various initiatives focused on catchment-  management. Protecting the broader ecosystem is vital as stretches of river that flow through green belts reflect the power of nature to clean polluted water.

“Wetlands are a key water resource and they also serve as a natural purifier of raw water as it makes its way into rivers and dams. Establishment of artificial wetlands upstream and downstream of storage infrastructure and wastewater works to improve water quality is under consideration. If finalised, this will be done with approval from and in conjunction with the Department of Water and Sanitation,” he said.

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