Sewage crisis persists in Umgeni River
In August last year, the situation came to a head when hundreds of fish were found floating between Athlone Bridge and the Umgeni River mouth at Blue Lagoon.
WHILE much of the focus over the festive season was Durban’s sewage-polluted beaches, very little was said on the state of the Umgeni River.
Throughout the month of December, water-quality tests along various sections of the Umgeni River revealed just how polluted the river was with E. coli (sewage bacteria).
In August last year, the situation came to a head when hundreds of fish were found floating between Athlone Bridge and the Umgeni River mouth at Blue Lagoon.
A consistent voice on the health of the river has been non-profit organisation (NPO) and environmental body, Adopt-a-River.
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Durban North resident and founder of the NPO, Janet Simpkins, along with other environmentalists, had raised the alarm over the health of the river with E. coli levels reaching ‘shockingly high’ levels last year.
Water-quality tests are due to be carried out by Talbot, a water-treatment service company, this week, and Simpkins feels the test results will show how dire the situation is.
“It is fair to say we are in the same position as last year. The overflows and sources of pollution still haven’t been resolved, exacerbating the issue. The repairs to the Northern Wastewater Treatment Works haven’t been completed, and up until December 22, we still recorded wastewater effluent flowing out of the works’ outlet pipe.
“Given the scope of the work, the timeline by the City was unrealistic, and of course, load-shedding doesn’t help as it affects the sewage pump stations. There are major issues on this river, and we can’t keep going back to the floods as the main cause, as the discolouration started well beyond the floods last year. My hope is the City has their contractors in place to speedily resolve the issue,” she explained.
Last year, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda revealed that at least R460m was required to repair pump stations and sewerage infrastructure across the city.
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At a press briefing in October last year, he cited the Northern Wastewater Treatment Works as one of those largely responsible for the contamination problems. At the time, he said that more than R300m was needed for the Water Treatment Works repair project alone.
