Man takes a dip in polluted river
The river runs through a heavily urbanised and industrial area of Sydney widely known as being one of the most toxic in the country.
The Cooks River, running through a number of heavily urbanised and industrialised areas in Sydney, is known as being one of the most polluted in the country.
It’s for this reason that locals have been so alarmed by the sight of a keen swimmer using it as his personal lap pool.
A video of the unknown man swimming in the murky water, near Earlwood has been posted to TikTok where it has left commenters were shocked to say the least, expressing concern for the man’s health.
News.com.au understands the bridge visible in the clip is Illawarra Road.
“He’s absolutely coming out of there radioactive,” one person said.
“He’s probably making good time because the slick of oil on the surface gives you a good lubricated glide,” another joked.
“It is one of the most polluted river systems in Australia. Don’t worry about the bull sharks,” a third pointed out.
But, it led many to question whether swimming in the river was actually allowed – or safe.
Jason L’Ecuyer from the Cooks River Alliance – a partnership between organisations in the Cooks River Catchment, including Bayside Council, Canterbury-Bankstown Council, Inner West Council, Strathfield Council, and Sydney Water, working together to improve its health – said that this isn’t the first time the question of swimming has been discussed, particularly off the back of some famous examples.
“It’s something that has come up increasingly with the conversation of swimmable open rivers,” he told news.com.au.
“You see Parramatta opening new swim sites, and the Seine most notably on a global scale.
“Cooks is different for a number of reasons – its size and scale and location, but also its history. It’s been pretty industrialised and developed and diverted.”
For that reason, swimming isn’t something he would recommend.
“In the lifespan of the Cooks River Alliance, the feasibility of swimming safety risks (hasn’t) been fully assessed. It’s something that people use as a marker for waterway health, but it’s not something that’s really, at least in the short term, on the cards,” he said.
“So, to this guy, and to people generally, I’d say, we would generally discourage people from swimming. It’s not suitable for swimming.”
He put this down to a few key reasons.
“The main reasons why, aside from the water quality issue, is that the water perceives a large amount of storm water after heavy rain events, and that’s unmitigated, so it’s not swimming-quality water,” he said.
“Then, there’s the issue of debris in the river. Things like shopping trolleys, bikes. You don’t have a lot of clarity in the water, so you wouldn’t necessarily know that you’re swimming next to or above a shopping trolley, which poses a risk.”
He noted that as of present, there is no specific signage warning against swimming, though he didn’t rule it out for the future.
While you can’t swim in the river, he did say there are plenty of great ways to make use of it.
“There (are) the immediate effects of swimming; you feel the effects of euphoria, you can cool off in the heat of the day,” he said.
“But, I think people want to be connected to the waterway and be connected to nature, and you can actually do that really well through paddling.”
In particular, the Cooks River Alliance has been encouraging people to do the Cooks River Paddle Trail – offering multiple routes that people of all ages, skills, and interests can participate in.
They’ve also recently started a campaign promoting the river as Our Backyard River, to showcase it as a living river that flows across boundaries, and shake some of those harmful stereotypes.
“[We’re promoting it] as a destination, rather than a dirty river,” he said.
Originally published as Man takes a dip in polluted river
