Activists and water experts have blamed Durban's recent environmental and public health woes on eThekwini municipality's ageing hydraulic infrastructure.
Scores of dead fish were discovered at the Isipingo Beach lagoon, south of the city, this week.
The municipality warned the public not to collect or consume the fish and ordered a specialised cleanup crew “to collect and dispose of the fish in a responsible manner”.
Malfunctioning pump stations in and around the city have resulted in high E. coli levels in rivers and the ocean in recent months, prompting the closure of some beaches — which have since reopened.
The high levels of the harmful bacteria were attributed to damage to the city’s wastewater treatment plants and sanitation infrastructure caused by the recent floods, resulting in sewage pollution.
Last week residents of Dassenhoek in Durban were warned not to drink tap water because of a fault in the Birchwood Park pump station.
The municipality warned that drinking water had been compromised and that contractors were conducting repairs at the pump station.
“In the interest of public safety, the city has taken a decision to prohibit access to the affected water courses until repairs to the pump station are finalised.”
It did not respond to questions posed by the Sunday Times about water infrastructure challenges.
Simphiwe Ngcobo, a hydrology lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Centre for Water Resources, said with Durban and surrounding areas expanding rapidly, “ageing hydraulic infrastructure is simply not keeping pace with this growth”.
• 39-million counts of E. coli detected in Umgeni River this week
• Anything over 500 counts is considered critical
— IN NUMBERS:
“It is becoming increasingly problematic as exemplified by the recent extreme floods whose polluted overflow is putting increasing strain on the health of wetlands and estuaries.
“Without speculating about the source of the pollution at the Isipingo Beach lagoon, most fish species tend to be highly resistant to the effects of pollution but if the pH of the river channel drops significantly it increases acidity and this can reduce dissolved oxygen.”
Ngcobo said a sudden fish kill “should be treated with the highest urgency”.
“The area should be immediately cordoned off where possible, the public kept away and warnings circulated to all residents in the area because this can lead to short- and long-term health problems for the public and other species that depend on the estuary for survival.”
It has become more than just an environmental matter - it now will affect people's health- so we can no longer be complacent as inaction will lead to far greater problems
— Cameron Service, an environmental activist from The Litterboom Project
Water-treatment service company Talbot, which does regular tests at rivers and beaches, has no readings for Isipingo Beach but its latest statistics show high levels of E. coli in greater Durban.
“All beaches, excluding Umhlanga main beach, are in critical condition for recreation from our latest sampling and testing,” Talbot said in its weekly report.
“Majority of the eThekweni beaches are showing the highest E. coli levels ... No surprise the rivers remain in an exceptionally poor state, with a devastating almost 39-million counts in Umgeni River near Riverside Bridge. This sample point has been trending significantly high over the past few weeks.”
Talbot says the ideal recreational limit for seawater is less than 130 counts per 100ml.
Cameron Service, an environmental activist from The Litterboom Project, said the Isipingo Beach incident “is representative of KwaZulu-Natal's current state, where much of the damage to sewer line infrastructure still remains in disrepair and discharging a significant amount of contaminated, untreated sewage”.
“It is a huge public health risk, especially as we move out of winter into higher rainfall periods that will worsen the problem.”
Thabani Mthethwa, the DA's eThekwini caucus leader, this week called on the national government to provide “urgent funding” to fix pump stations.
Janet Simpkins of environmental group Adopt-a-River said the national water and sanitation department “has to step in and sort out what is happening in municipalities, not only in Durban but around the country”.
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