Sewage leak in Kalang River impacts Urunga Lido swimming spot

Swimmers are asked to steer clear for now after an unsavoury spill at a popular swimming spot. Here’s how it happened.

Swimmers have been urged to avoid the Urunga Lido for the time being.

Mother Nature was in the right place at the right time to minimise the impact of a sewage spill into a popular swimming spot on the Mid-North Coast.

While residents have been advised to steer clear of the showcase Urunga Lido and nearby lagoon until the “all clear” is signalled, the situation could have been much worse if not for prevailing conditions.

Bellingen Shire mayor Steve Allan explained that a transfer pump had been set up while emergency repair work was undertaken to a sewer main near Morgo Street.

The failure of the transfer pump caused an upstream sewer manhole to fill and eventually overflow.

This led to some contamination from that location into the lagoon on Tuesday.

A council spokesman said the contamination likely occurred over less than two hours.

While the system has been fixed, Mr Allan said residents should stay out of the water until the warning signs are removed.

Council staff have erected signage near the Urunga Lagoon and Lido in an “abundance of caution”, the spokesman said.

The consequences of the pump’s fail were substantially lessened by an outgoing tide.

“Dilution is the solution,” Mr Allan said.

Because the river was flowing out, there’s likely to be no impact for oyster growers.

“However, monitoring is being done further up the Kalang where the oyster growers are,” he said.

The Urunga Lido swimming enclosure was built in 1981 by the Morgo Street Reserve Trust, however the entire structure was removed in 1999 because of damage from storms, and the site then silted up with sand.

Following heavy campaigning from the Urunga Tidal Pool Action Group, the State Government allocated more than half a million dollars in funding to upgrade the site.

The eagerly awaited $535,000 revitalisation of the Urunga Lido was officially unveiled in November 2019.