Widespread flood destruction across Adelaide raise fears of sewage contamination
ADELAIDE waterways are at risk of being contaminated by sewage, as SA Water works to fix storm damage to the Waterfall Gully Rd sewage system. MORE INCREDIBLE IMAGES
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READ BELOW: Painful trail to recovery after torrent
ADELAIDE waterways are at risk of being contaminated by sewage, as SA Water works to fix storm damage to the Waterfall Gully Rd sewage system.
The system was flooded by water and mud on Wednesday when heavy rains caused widespread damage to properties in Waterfall Gully and Burnside.
Sewage pits on properties in the area operate are usually emptied automatically by a vacuum sewerage system.
However, each sewage pit was emptied manually yesterday as SA Water notified affected residents and worked to fix sewer issues.
SA Health has advised people to wear protective clothing, including gloves, during clean-up to avoid direct contact with any potential contaminated floodwater and mud, and to wash and disinfect thoroughly after clean-up.
Residents were also advised to minimise disposal of water — from toilets, showers and washing machines — to the sewerage system to reduce the risk of sewer overflows.
An SA Water spokeswoman said the risk was low, with floodwaters flowing into First Creek being highly diluted, but it reminded all residents to be cautious in case any untreated water enter the creek.
First Creek, which begins at Cleland Wildlife Park, merges into the River Torrens.
Sewage is among stormwater, debris and nutrient-rich water that will have an impact on the environment as it flows through Adelaide’s waterways.
An Environment Department spokesman said Natural Resource Management boards will conduct catchment programs to improve stormwater quality, by limiting inflows of debris, silt and nutrients, particularly in the River Torrens and its tributaries.
Conservation Council chief executive Craig Wilkins said seagrass was already under severe stress, partly from stormwater and other nutrient-rich water that came from creeks.
“Those seagrasses provide enormous benefits to our beaches, fish and other marine species,” he said.
“There’s no doubt that a big amount of stormwater run-off has an impact because there’s likely to be an increase in nutrients from run-offs of heavy metals, oils and general litter.”
Mr Wilkins said an Adelaide Coastal Water Study a few years ago found stormwater run-off had to be reduced to protect the health of seagrass.
He said one way was to change the perception of stormwater as waste to being a resource that can be stored instead of going into the sea, as done at the stormwater-harvesting facility at Parafield.
“It’s a lot cheaper and a more environmentally friendly way of putting water into a system, than desalination or pumping the water from the River Murray,” Mr Wilkins said.
Painful trail to recovery after torrent
By Jade Gailberger
HOME and business owners are coming to grips with the fallout and counting the cost of the damage from this week’s spring storm.
The mo- up from Wednesday’s deluge, which caused damage to at least 80 homes across Adelaide and the Hills, continued yesterday as authorities prepared for further rain today.
Waterfall Gully, which was among the suburbs to face the brunt of the flooding, remained a soggy, muddy mess yesterday, and the clean-up for many residents is likely to take weeks.
Utopia @ Waterfall Gully cafe owners Justin and Kelly Markos were among those to be worst hit by the storm.
The pair endured storm damage to their property at Ashton, but it’s the small family business that has taken the hardest hit.
Ms Markos told The Advertiser they were yet to get into the Waterfall Gully restaurant to see how much food they had lost.
“We know at this stage we’ve lost several days of revenue in terms of not being able to open,” she said.
“We’ve lost a large event that was scheduled for Saturday, which was several thousand dollars, and on Sunday we have a wedding which we are in the process of trying to relocate to our sister venue.”
Ms Markos said thousands of dollars of food had been delivered to the restaurant on Wednesday morning before the storm hit.
She said the power outage meant all food in their fridges would be lost, but it is the potential impact on their 10 fulltime staff and 20 casuals they were concerned about.
“We’ve got a whole team of staff sitting around without anything to do who we have to keep paying despite having no income,” Ms Markos said.
The restaurant’s reopening remains uncertain, as the owners liaise with Cleland rangers about the reopening of the popular walking track to Mount Lofty.
“There are thousands of walkers a day that go past the doors and many of them stop in and have breakfast, coffees or stay for lunch — so there will obviously be a massive downturn in our business until the track is repaired,” she said.
McAllan Ave resident Liz said this week’s flood was worse than the last in 2005.
Her house had escaped with some minor damage compared to her neighbours’ — which she said was surprisingly the opposite of what happened last time.
Waterfall Gully Rd resident Molly Hardman, 41, spent yesterday clearing debris with the help of her son Sam and neighbours.
She has only been in the house — which was unscathed — a year, and said with the flood offered an opportunity to meet some other residents.
“All the neighbours were out so we probably got to know most of them,” she said.
“They’ve all be very helpful.”
Ms Hardman said they had heard about past flooding, but wouldn’t have bought if the house wasn’t high off the ground.
“I feel for a lot of the other residents,” she said.
Further down the road, Brian Pucker, 69, had help clearing the mud from his driveway, from friends as far as Murray Bridge.
The creek washed away most of the plants in his garden and lapped at his back door.
The weather bureau yesterday issued a flood watch warning for the Mount Lofty Ranges, Mid North and North East Pastoral districts.
Further rainfall of 10-30mm is expected over the Mount Lofty Ranges today, with the State Emergency Service on standby for flooding.
