GEORGE NEWS - A sewage spill in the Touw River prevented holiday goers from taking part in any water activities in the river from Christmas day onward for a week.
This was due to a pump failure at the Ebb and Flow sewage pump station on 24 December. The spill was treated and on 31 January all water activities could resume when tests came back clear.
Following this, sewage spills from private properties compelled the municipality to issue further warnings in the first week of the new year when water samples showed non-compliance.
Only the river mouth and lagoon area were safe for full contact.
Municipal communications head Chantel Edwards-Klose said testing has continued throughout the festive season and some erratic results were causing concern. It was established that there was no further failure of the Ebb and Flow pump station, so an investigation of all private and business conservancy tanks was launched.
"This investigation has to date revealed a number of private homeowners who are non-complaint. They either allow their conservancy tanks to overflow and/or have illegal connections, thereby contaminating groundwater and stormwater which discharges into the river."
She said where there are issues for rectification, the responsible homeowners have been alerted and action will be taken against those who do not comply.
Ongoing testing
Lindsay Mooiman, acting director of Civil Engineering Services, said on Monday 10 January the department has been testing twice a day from 24 December and this will continue until the E. coli problem is fully addressed.
"The municipality strictly adheres to the protocol for what is permitted. An E. coli reading of less than 130 allows full contact swimming as per the Department of Water Sanitation's Water Quality Guideline. Should the reading have indicated 135, we would have issued a public notice to warn against swimming."
She said the investigation has already achieved results with twice daily readings as of Thursday 6 January showing consistently clear results. However, on Tuesday 11 January, test results again showed the Touw River at Ebb and Flow was not suitable for water sport. Touw River mouth and lagoon remained compliant and water sport was permitted.
Edwards-Klose thanked residents of Wilderness who have willingly allowed officials access to their properties.
"Legal action can and will be taken against property owners who, for no valid reason, refuse the municipality access to their property. Our officials are wearing identification tags and will provide the homeowner with a letter indicating reason for their requiring access."
The full investigation is expected to be concluded within days.
Test results for Gwaing River on Tuesday 11 January were non-compliant in the river, the river mouth and at the beach, so no water sport was allowed. This followed a sewage spill on Monday due to an overflow at the Experimental Farm sewerage pump station because of an electrical interruption.
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