Warning to avoid contact with the Normanville Creek, Bungala River, and parts of Normanville beach after an untreated wastewater leak
Untreated wastewater has leaked on to parts of Normanville Beach from a nearby wastewater treatment plant, with beachgoers warned to stay away.
SA News
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Health authorities are warning people to avoid contact with Normanville Creek, Bungala River and parts of Normanville Beach – after a system fault at a nearby wastewater treatment plant caused one megalitre of untreated wastewater to leak into nearby waterways.
Health Department principal water quality adviser Dr David Cunliffe said people should avoid contact with seawater 100 metres each side of the river at Normanville Beach.
“The affected areas are being clearly marked with signage, and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has attended the site to assess,” Dr Cunliffe said.
People who come into contact with the wastewater could experience gastrointestinal illness including vomiting and diarrhoea.
“Anyone who suspects they have been in contact with wastewater in this area and are also experiencing symptoms should speak to their GP or healthcare provider.”
The fault at the Normanville Wastewater Treatment Plant was identified by staff during routine checks, who notified SA Health and the EPA.
SA Water’s senior manager production and treatment Lisa Hannat, said the incident would be investigated.
“Our top priority will be understanding what happened, to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Ms Hannant said.
The plant returned to normal operation and additional monitoring is underway.
“We apologise for the inconvenience this incident may cause river, creek and beach visitors and assure the community that steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence.”
Water samples were collected from several downstream locations from the treatment plant to determine how much wastewater leaked. Results were collected on Tuesday afternoon, which indicated the wastewater overflow was contained to the creek, and is yet to make its way to connecting seawater.
SA Health has advised SA Water to continue testing waters for five days, which is the length of time the water could take to naturally flow out into the connecting water.
Yankalilla Mayor Glen Rowlands said the area restricted to the public at Normanville Beach is used for boat launching, and is not the main swimming area of the beach.
“The Jetty Caravan Park Normanville are not experiencing any effects to their services and
have confirmed no visual changes or odours are currently present,” Mr Rowlands said.