Sewage Leak Pollutes Swan River Near Guildford as Water Corp Investigates

A foul odour and contaminated water in Perth’s Swan River have prompted yet another health and safety warning after the second major sewage spill in the city in the past month.

The Water Corporation has warned people to stay away from a 7-kilometre section of the Swan River, from Guildford Road Bridge between Bassendean and Guildford up to Reg Bond Reserve in Viveash.

It is the second time a burst water main has sent wastewater flowing into suburbs around Perth this year, with
sewage engulfing streets and parks in Spearwood and Beaconsfield
last month.

Locals say they smelled waste in the river and noticed a murky discolouration of the water last week.

Warren Southwell was paddling upriver from Caversham House on Thursday when he noticed the water had changed colour.

"I was looking at the water as I was going along and suddenly it changed colour from a clear dark brown to this milky coffee sort of colour," Mr Southwell told ABC Radio Perth.

Mr Southwell thought the discolouration was rainwater run-off from recent rainfall until he was overwhelmed by the smell.

"That smell is not what I normally smell … it was very hard to breathe and very, very strong," he said.

He said the sewage stretched for about 400 metres, from Caversham House upstream to the southern end of Viveash.

Concern for children using river

Local parent Katie was horrified to hear about the contamination of a section of the river near where her son usually played.

Her son’s daycare centre in Guildford uses the river daily.

"They use the river as part of their program, they’re there all the time," Katie told ABC Radio Perth.

"On Friday I got a lovely video of him and 30 other kids splashing in the river, building sandcastles, just around the river bend from where [the affected area] has been described."

Katie said the daycare centre was not aware the river had been contaminated.

"I’m just a bit concerned about health concerns for him and the other five-year-olds," she said.

"A couple other parents have said their kids have upset tummies, so I do wonder, but you know five-year-olds are germ factories. But I have actually chosen to keep [my son] home today just to make sure that he’s not infectious."

Aging infrastructure

Water Corporation general manager Karen Willis said while the overflows had now stopped, technical challenges were slowing down repair efforts.

"When we do a repair like that, we have to divert the sewer flows to other areas, and that is what unfortunately has caused those localised overflows into a couple of drains and creek that flows into the Swan," she said.

The Water Corporation deployed six "sucker-trucks" to extract excess wastewater from drains and creeks flowing into the Swan River and put up warning signs on the riverbanks near the affected areas.

Ms Willis said she was investigating why the daycare centre was not informed of the potential for an overflow before it occurred.

She conceded it was a challenge to maintain the ageing and expansive infrastructure of Perth’s sewerage system.

"It’s an extensive network, there’s about 17,000 kilometres of wastewater mains across the state," Ms Willis said.

"We do absolutely continue to prioritise investment in these networks to make sure that we do maintain them as safe and reliable as possible.

"We do apologise, we understand this is really frustrating and concerning for people that are using the river and the nearby areas."

Shadow Water Minister Peter Rundle on Monday called for the government to undertake a full audit of the state’s wastewater infrastructure.

"It’s completely unacceptable that raw sewage has made its way into the Swan River yet again," he said.

"This isn’t just an infrastructure failure, it’s a serious public health and environmental threat."

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