ADRIENNE CARLISLE
The sewage-polluted rivers around Makhanda have highly dangerous E.coli bacteria counts and could spark a dire health crisis, the DA warns.
While tests show the Makana municipality’s drinking water may be safe, thousands of litres of raw sewage from the Makana municipality’s dilapidated water treatments works leak daily into streams which feed into culturally and ecologically sensitive and important river systems.
These river systems are also used for dairy, vegetable and other farming enterprises.
DA Makana councillor Cary Clark again warned that the people around Makana faced a health crisis because of the Makana municipality’s inability to deal with its raw sewage.
She said she intended to refer the matter to the Green Scorpions after five out of seven sites tested along the Kowie, Blaauwkrantz and Mtayane rivers showed shockingly high contamination levels.
Samples from the sites were sent to Rhodes University in Makhanda to be examined by an independent expert.
“The testing revealed that E. coli counts which pose a definite danger to the health of residents were found at five of the seven sites.”
- coli levels should be close to zero — anything above 100 colony-forming units (CFU) per 100ml is dangerous to humans and animals alike.
She said at the five contaminated sites, E. coli counts of 280, 1,000, 1,800 and 30,000 CFU had been found.
“This is an environmental and economic catastrophe waiting to happen,” she said.
“The discharge of sewage into rivers could result in the water becoming so contaminated that it will no longer be fit for use as an irrigation source for farmers.”
The discharge of raw sewage into a natural water resource is also illegal in terms of the environmental and water legislation as well as the constitution.
Clark said the sewage spills were as a direct result of the failure of the municipality’s Belmont Valley water treatment works.
She said the water treatment works required a “huge refurbishment” and current plans for work to be done on it fell short of what was required to make it compliant.
“This uncaring and irresponsible municipality must be brought to book for endangering the livelihood and health of its residents.”
The Blauwkrantz River is also home to the endangered fresh water Eastern Province rocky fish (Sandelia bainsii), also known as the rocky kurper.
Environmentalists have warned for more than a decade that the fish, which live in pools along the river, were endangered by the sewage spills.
The pools are also an area where Xhosa people carry out sacred rituals.
Neither the Makana municipality nor the department of water & sanitation, which were contacted late in the day, had responded at the time of writing.
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