Umngeni-uThukela Water board Chairperson Advocate Vusi Khuzwayo and Ethekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda during the stormwater and wastewater issues. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/ Independent Newspapers
Durban — EThekwini beaches have been given a clean bill of health and declared safe for swimming. This was announced by mayor Mxolisi Kaunda in a media briefing on Tuesday.
The mayor backed his announcement with results by an independent laboratory, Talbot, which showed that the city’s beaches were all below the acceptable threshold of 500 E coli.
The City has been jointly taking samples of water in the rivers and beaches with an independent entity, Adopt-a-River, and sent them to Talbot laboratory for testing.
The results should come as a big relief to residents and tourists, who are expected to flock to beaches to cool off as the summer becomes hotter.
In the results that were seen by the Daily News, the city’s main beaches were marked as excellent since they were below 100ml of E coli.
These beaches were Point, Ushaka, South, North, Battery and Country Club and are ones that are frequently visited by residents and tourists.
The mayor said they were happy that their beaches were safe but said the City would continue testing the water at these beaches once or twice a week to ensure the safety of people. The City would not hesitate to close any beach found to be unsafe, he said.
“We continue to conduct regular tests on our water quality with the independent laboratory, Talbot.
“We are pleased to report that the latest results from last week indicated acceptable levels of E coli on our beaches.
“The reason we have increased the frequency of testing to twice a week is to ensure our water quality is of the highest standard,” said the mayor.
He further stated that the City has employed new technology where its Queensburgh water plant will be able to intercept and clean wastewater before reaching the sea.
The City has signed an agreement with uMngeni-uThukela Water to jointly maintain water treatment plants to prevent water interruptions. He said the agreement was initially for 12 months.
The main focus would be on those plants that were damaged by last year’s floods.
“The agreement has been effective from November 15 and will see the Water Board involved in the operation of 10 wastewater treatment works that handle more than 90% of the total wastewater generated by the eThekwini Metro.
“We are happy to report that, to date, uMngeni-uThukela Water has completed a conditional assessment of the wastewater infrastructure at the 10 wastewater works and is implementing an urgent programme to restore compliance going into the festive season.
“We have dispatched technical teams from both uMngeni-uThukela Water and eThekwini who have already started working together on identified projects to improve compliance.
“The delivery of necessary chemicals, integration of monitoring and laboratory analyses is expected to be completed by this coming Friday,” said the mayor.
The briefing was also attended by uMngeni-uThukela Water board chairperson advocate Vusi Khuzwayo.
The City said it would beef up security at the plants to prevent vandalism and possible sabotage.
There have been allegations that the vandalism was caused by contractors, but the mayor said there are ongoing investigations by law enforcement on whether the damage was deliberate or not, saying he would not want to speculate.
There has been an outcry over the City’s infrastructure, which opposition parties have been using to attack the ANC-led council. On several occasions, the City has had to close its beaches because of high levels of E coli.
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Daily News