- hot-spots
- waste
- South Africa
- Polluted water in the UmBilo river system in Durban’s eThekwini municipality
Problems
The water in the UmBilo river system in Durban’s eThekwini municipality is shockingly polluted
«The Umbilo river system is in a terrible state and the municipality is indifferent», said Delvin Pillay, a volunteer at Greenpeace Africa. «Residents wake up not knowing what color the river will be, not to mention the stench from the river that greets residents coming home from work. Some residents are already used to it. A municipality cannot be so abusive towards such an important river system.» Years of uncontrolled pollution have turned the river into an unnatural color and destroyed all kinds of animals that live in it. The pollution of natural water bodies and reservoirs in South Africa could soon lead to catastrophic consequences. According to environmentalists, wastewater treatment services cannot cope with the volume of chemicals in them. They are deposited in the bottom layers of rivers, lakes, and artificial reservoirs. Some of the causes of this pollution in South Africa's rivers, including the Umbilo river, involve: 1. Urbanization. As the number of people moving into urbanized areas increases, so does the need for food. As a means of meeting these high demands, fertilizer use and sewage pollution are also increasing. Nitrates and phosphates in fertilizers and wastewater cause eutrophication, which is harmful to other species in the environment. Eutrophication increases algae blooms, which can cause diseases such as diarrhea, hay fever, skin rash, vomiting, fever, gastroenteritis, muscle and joint pain, and eye irritation. 2. Oil spills. South Africa is located at the very tip of southern Africa. This location makes South Africa very vulnerable to oil spills. Oil is transported in large quantities from the Middle East to Europe and the Americas along the coast, and as a result, South Africa's water and ecosystem can be severely affected. Thus, it is prone to oil spills. 3. Coal mining. Coal mining is a major source of energy in southern Africa, but it has a huge negative impact on the quality of water, air, and soil on the land. Acid mine drainage is the result of excessive coal mining. Sulfuric acid is released during coal mining, and while the generalizing process is slow, the time it takes to neutralize the acid is just as slow. When clean, excess water is released from the rock masses punctured by mining, it mixes with sulfuric acid, making the water toxic. This toxic contaminated water kills plants and animals and dissolves aluminum and heavy minerals found in clean water (increasing toxicity levels). Although rocks containing calcium carbonate can neutralize acidic water, there are no rocks in South Africa containing these minerals. To draw public attention to the ecocide on the Umbilo River, the groups jointly launched a petition on VUMA.EARTH addressed various government bodies, including the Mayor of Durban, water supply and drainage management, the Minister of Settlements, Water Supply and Sanitation, and the South African Human Rights Commission. Almost 1,000 people signed the petition over the weekend. «The community has been communicating with the municipality regarding serious concerns and complaints regarding the pollution of the Umbilo River that flows past their homes. The pollution affects communities and the natural habitat of local wildlife before entering Durban Bay Harbour, one of the largest conservation estuaries in South Africa. No answer or results today. Residents volunteered to monitor and take river samples for analysis at their own risk and expense.» The petition, which is being circulated by Durban Greenpeace volunteers in Africa and the community group Umbilo River Watch, calls for greater accountability from the municipality that will serve to protect natural treasures such as the Umbilo River.
Gallery
6
Timelines
2024
February
Many residents of eThekwini have been experiencing increasingly frequent and lengthy interruptions to their water supply. The root cause of the problem is that the demand for treated water in eThekwini is exceeding the available supply of treated water. eThekwini buys most of its treated water from the Umgeni-uThukela Water Board, which abstracts raw water from the uMngeni Water Supply System (uMWS) and treats it so that it meets drinking water quality standards. Umgeni-uThukela Water Board stores the treated water in bulk storage reservoirs and supplies it into eThekwini Municipality reservoirs. From there the water is pumped and gravity-fed to households. Demand for water in eThekwini has grown rapidly, largely due to population growth, and partly due to increasing leaks in the Municipality’s water distribution systems.
2023
November
The prolonged flow of sewage in rivers leading to the Durban beachfront may start to ease over the next few weeks after the eThekwini Municipality agreed to (partly) hand over control of the city’s largest wastewater treatment plants to a state-owned water utility company. The initial 12 month-contract provides for the Pietermaritzburg-based uMngeni-uThukela Water Board to assume joint responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the city’s biggest sewage treatment plants — a clear indictment of the city’s failure to remedy the situation on its own. Many Durban treatment plants have been discharging untreated or partially treated effluent into rivers and the Indian Ocean. The emergency repair plan, announced by the water utility’s chairperson, Professor Vusi Khuzwayo, and eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, will involve 10 local wastewater treatment works that collectively process nearly 90% of the city’s sewage and industrial effluent flows. This includes the Northern Wastewater Treatment Works, which has been discharging poorly treated water into the uMngeni River for more than two years at a point roughly 2.5km upstream of the Blue Lagoon.
March
WaterCAN, an initiative of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), and Durban-based non-profit Adopt-a-River have written to the eThekwini Municipality to immediately address the dangerously high levels of E-coli in the Umbilo River. The two organizations conducted a series of E. coli tests both below and above the Umbilo River Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) over six weeks. The collected samples were tested by Talbot Laboratories. The Umbilo River is the culmination of multiple tributaries and groundwater resources joining about 40km inland near the Durban suburb of Gillitts. The river flows through various residential, industrial and nature reserve areas and eventually flows into the ocean through the port of Durban. The river supports multiple livelihoods from bed and breakfast establishments to holiday parks as well as small-scale farming. WaterCAN and Adopt-A-River notified the city that they would begin taking more samples along the river in 60 days, during which time they expect the city to undertake urgent repair and maintenance initiatives. Janet Simpkins of Adopt-A-River said there is growing anger among the city’s residents and businesses over the state of river systems, and that people are no longer willing to allow the status quo to go unchallenged. «Various organizations and individuals across the city and KwaZulu-Natal are working towards finding long-term solutions for the poor state of our river systems. We are exploring all possible means of changing the status quo. One proven method is the continued testing and publication of E. coli results by private individuals and non-profit organizations. We will continue to test, expose and demand accountability river by river, beach by beach,» said Simpkins. WaterCAN’s KwaZulu-Natal representative Jonathan Erasmus said the sample results should worry every senior city official whose mandate it is to protect and maintain the city’s water systems.
2022
September 01
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the arrest of city leaders and municipal staff of the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) over the ongoing discharge of sewage into the Umbilo River. In a written reply to Parliament, the KwaZulu-Natal Environment Authority confirmed that criminal charges had been brought against the eThekwini Municipality. During an oversight visit to the Umbilo River, DA KZN spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development and Environment Heinz de Boer said the municipality had failed to fix an overflowing manhole that continued to discharge raw sewage into the river. An overflowing manhole continues to dump untreated sewage into the Umbilo River in Durban.
2012
December 06
Terence McCarthy, professor of geology at Wits University in Johannesburg, says the water in the Umbilo River contaminated by coal mining is toxic and dangerous to health and life. At the Anglo-American Mines water treatment plant in Imalahleni, Peter Gunter created the world's first system to combat pollution from coal mining. 30 million liters of contaminated water come from three mines, they treat it and make it drinkable. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thinks so, too - and has highlighted these water conservation efforts as one of seven global projects helping to combat the negative effects of climate change. Experts understand that this is a step in the right direction. Many scientists and activists are calling for a complete cessation of coal mining until an effective and economically viable solution to pollution can be found. They believe that it is not even a choice - people simply must protect the planet's water resources.
2002
May 25
Studies at Hartbeespoort Reservoir, the closest reservoir to the South African capital, have shown that fish can live there only in the upper 8 meters of the water layer. Anything deeper (the average depth of the reservoir is 33 meters) is not suitable for aquatic fauna and flora. According to Charles Fourie, head of the Ecosat environmental organization, the treatment facilities available in the country are outdated. They are not adapted to filter water from, for example, machine oil, chemical components of shampoos, toothpaste, etc. According to specialists' calculations, it will take about 50 years to purify the water in Hartbeespoort alone. The water will have to go through a modern treatment cycle at least twice.