Durban - While the eThekwini municipality works to restore functionality to the City’s ailing sewage infrastructure, which has been strained in the face of the recent floods, public health experts say that the long term health impacts need to be considered.
Beaches and rivers in the eThekwini region, as well as up and down the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, have in some way been affected by the sewage disposal problem currently vexing City officials and residents.
From an unbearable stench, to unavoidable mess - in some instances, leaking sewage pipes have allowed waste to enter our most precious water sources, putting the health of residents in grave danger.
Head of public health in medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Saloshni Naidoo, said that it needs to be accepted as a health risk.
“You have probably seen the effects of E.coli and water contamination.
“That is one of the things that we are concerned about because it leads to an increase in diarrheal diseases.
“If people were to bathe in these rivers or beaches where there is affluent run-off, the risk of these diarrheal diseases increases among the population.
“We know that there are informal settlements along riverbanks and these residents may use this water for whatever reason.
“If they don’t boil it or treat it properly, that also increases the risk of infection.
“From a public health perspective, that is what we are concerned about,” Professor Naidoo.
She said the risk of infection is higher in children and elderly people as their immune system’s are not as strong.
Further, residents may be in danger given the fact that the world recently recovered from a respiratory virus, Covid-19.
Water-borne diseases, which are associated with contaminated water, may affect a person more than it usually does if their system has not fully recovered from the virus, if they were infected.
BREAKING NEWS:ALLEGEDLY
NOTICE
Durban Residents
'Allegedly RAW SEWAGE has entered UMGENI RIVER in DURBAN'! pic.twitter.com/tTi6olSxvx
“We have to understand it before seeing how people who were infected with Covid respond when exposed to other diseases.
“But we do know that if you have been previously infected, then your immunities are compromised to a certain extent.
“Unless you have improved 100%, your ability to respond to another disease is modulated,” Naidoo added.
According to the Indiana department of Health – In the United States, there are around 15 known diseases caused by sewage or sewage contaminated water.
It was also reported during the pandemic period that wastewater was a transmitter of the Covid-19 virus.
This, after the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the increase in infections.
These include gastroenteritis and forms of hepatitis, among others.
At the weekend, new footage emerged showing the state of the uMgeni river and the Blackburn Sewage pump station, near uMhlanga, which has been gushing raw sewage into the uMgeni river since the floods, according to sources on the ground.
The DA’s Heinz de Boer said that part of the problem is because of the way our City’s sewage disposal system is designed, adding that they flow down hill and usually end up near a river.
It’s sad to say but Durban is no longer a tourist attraction. The maladministration and looting by the ANC government mixed with the social unrests plus the natural disasters have ruined the city. The regular sewage leaks into swimming beaches is the final nail in the coffin. https://t.co/AZf36b59PK
— Ofentse Donald Davhie (@donalddavhie) October 14, 2022
“If there’s a leak or any issue, odds are that the sewage will end up in the river, and we are starting to see that,” de Boer told IOL.
The DA’s head of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs in KZN, said that the situation can be fixed with simple methods, but a lot of money will be needed.
The City’s executive committee met on Tuesday to discuss among other issues, the sewage crisis currently plaguing the region.
IOL