WAVES OF POO

Dbn beaches not clear yet

Surfers fall ill after waters declared safe, new tests show critical levels of contamination

● New, independent water quality tests show that three Durban beaches — all declared open by the eThekwini municipality — are unsafe for swimming.

Three weeks ago the Sunday Times commissioned an independent company to test water samples at popular beaches, which showed some of the open beaches were brimming with faecal matter and other toxins.

The accredited testing company, Talbot, conducted another round of tests for the Sunday Times on Thursday. Samples were taken at Main beach in Umhlanga, Country Club, Battery and North beaches in Durban and Anstey’s beach south of the city.

The tests were done on the day the city said the beaches were open and safe for swimming.

Three of the five beaches, including Umhlanga, Country Club and Battery, showed critical levels of colony forming units (cfu), the microbial cells (bacteria, fungi or viruses) in a sample.

A count over 500cfu/100ml is considered critical. Umhlanga’s main beach count was 3,076cfu/100ml, where deputy city manager

Opening a beach that does not satisfy water quality prescribed standards is not acceptable. Public health should take precedence over attracting tourists

Prof Faizal Bux

Dr Musa Gumede took a swim this week to prove its readiness for the festive season.

Country Club beach on the Golden Mile in Durban registered 816cfu/100ml, and the reading at Battery beach, also on the Golden Mile, was 512cfu/100ml.

Anstey’s beach was just below the critical mark, at 457cfu/100ml.

North Beach in Durban, where mayor Mxolisi Kaunda took a dip on Thursday, was safe at 199cfu/100ml.

The city is adamant that most of its beaches are “safe for swimming following improved water quality results”, saying it had now partnered with Talbot to ensure the water is tested more frequently.

“Under normal circumstances the samples are done every 14 days, but we have increased the sample to a weekly basis,” said municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela. “However, if there are concerns around the colour of water the frequency is increased.”

Prof Faizal Bux, director of the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology at Durban University of Technology, said the water could even contaminate beach sand with bacterial pathogens if the count was high enough.

“Beaches showing counts above 500cfu/100ml should not allow any recreational activities. If counts are substantially higher than permissible limits then the beaches should be closed immediately.

“Opening a beach that does not satisfy water quality prescribed standards is not acceptable. Public health should take precedence over attracting tourists.”

Durban surfer Jeff Simpson says he was left bedridden for three days with severe stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea after he ingested water at a central beach the eThekwini municipality had declared safe.

Simpson, who has been a surfer since 1966, fell ill on November 5, the day the municipality informed the public its 15 beaches, including Battery beach where he surfed, were open.

Another Durban resident, Justin Clark, was sick with the same symptoms after bodyboarding at Anstey’s beach in October. He says there were no signs whether bathing was banned because of high E. coli levels.

The uncertainty about the quality of the seawater, despite assurances by the city that most beaches are safe and open, has sparked concern in the medical fraternity.

Morningside general practitioner Dr Kevindra Naidu, who has treated surfers and paddlers, said the E. coli counts in the water were cause for concern.

“I do specifically ask patients presenting with abdominal symptoms if they were swimming in the ocean,” Naidu added.

Contact with contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness and lead to infections of the skin, ear, respiratory system, eye wounds. Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever, while the impact could be more serious for immune-compromised people.

Clark said he noticed the water at Anstey’s beach “had a distinct pong of sewage and chemicals which could be seen coming from the corner pipe” after he had been in the water on October 2.

“Afterwards, I showered thoroughly and did a sinus rinse for good measure. I thought I had eluded the notorious E. coli.” But two days later he was violently ill. A surfing coach, who did not want to be identified, said the sewage crisis and poor management of the beaches had deprived him of business.

“Between the Covid pandemic, followed by the riots, then the floods and now the water quality, I have had to give up my coaching. I cannot in good conscience take paying customers into water of dubious quality and [expose them to] possible health risk.”

Jean-Marc Tostee, who owns a surf shop on North beach, said his business had been crippled “because of the E. coli issues”.

“The effect has been far worse than Covid lockdowns for our industry. Our sales are way down because the beaches can’t be used as they should,” he said.

“Most beaches were closed from August to October. In that time we lost a significant amount of business. We were 35% down in turnover for the year.”

Mayisela said businesses would recover “as most of the beaches are now open for water activities” even as new concerns about E. coli contaminating the beach sand emerge. — Additional reporting by Mfundo Mkhize