Durban – A team from Adopt-a-River found dead fish on the banks of the uMngeni River on Thursday morning.
This comes after eThekwini Municipality announced the closure of some beaches last Friday due to poor water quality after the latest round of testing.
The following beaches were closed: Brighton, Ansteys, Point, Ushaka, Addington, South, Wedge, North, Bay of Plenty, Battery, Country Club Thekwini, Laguna, Baggies and Reunion beaches. All water activities at these beaches are banned for health reasons.
The city said uMhlanga Main, Umdloti, Westbrook and Bronze beaches in the northern region also remain closed.
Janet Simpkins, the director of environmental conservation organisation Adopt-a-River, said the pollution problems in the uMngeni River needed to be addressed at the highest level.
“We are calling on national water and sanitation to step in and help resolve the water and sewage crisis,” she said.
Adopt-a-River said water testing done by Talbot, using samples taken on September 15, showed critical levels of E coli at sites across Durban.
According to Talbot, the ideal E coli levels per 100/ml are 0-130 while the critical levels are over 400.
Samples taken from the uMngeni River in Riverside revealed that the water quality was at a critical level as the E coli level per 100ml was at 2 613 000.
Results from samples taken from the uMngeni River by the Northern Works were 2 613 000 per 100ml, while samples from the Kingfisher Canoe Club were 46 100 per 100ml.
Samples from the uMdloti River at the Mount Moreland Bridge revealed that the water quality is also at a critical level there as the E coli level per 100ml was at 18 500.
