By Cara Waters
Meg Elkins swims in the Yarra early in the morning at Deep Rock, the bend in the river just before Dights Falls in Abbotsford, in Melbourne’s inner east.
“The beauty of the place is extraordinary,” Elkins said. “We see a part of the river that no one else sees.”
Meg Elkins (left) and Holly Jones swim in the Yarra at Deep Rock.Credit: Jason South
A sandstone cliff juts out of one side of the river, wattle trees flower along the banks and the mist rises off the water.
The only giveaways that the swimming hole is four kilometres from the CBD are the hum of traffic from the nearby Eastern Freeway – and the water quality.
Elkins and the other “Yarra Yabbies” who swim at Deep Rock abide by a few basic rules: don’t put your head under, don’t swim when it’s flooded and don’t swim if you have an open wound.
The same rules applied for competitors at the Paris Olympics, where some events in the Seine were delayed to allow the water quality to improve after heavy rain. Even with the precautions, some Olympians were left hospitalised and vomiting for days afterwards.
Paris spent €1.4 billion ($2.3 billion) to clean up the Seine before the Olympics, including building a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and keep wastewater from entering the river, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
But concerns were still raised about the levels of E. coli and enterococci, indicative of sewage or fecal pollution in the water.
Most strains of these bacteria are harmless and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others can be dangerous, and a mouthful of contaminated water can lead to diarrhoea and other illnesses.
The Yarra Yabbies brave the cold and water quality year round to swim in the river. Credit: Jason South
Under sport governing body World Triathlon’s guidelines, E. coli levels of up to 1000 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres can be considered “good”, but other organisations, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, set a stricter limit of 126 units per 100 millilitres of water. Rain at the start of the Olympics meant the Seine recorded a level of 418 units per 100 millilitres.
By comparison, testing by Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority of the Yarra in Kew, just up from Deep Rock, recorded between 74 and 6500 units per 100 millilitres this year.
The EPA rates the river using a traffic light system: red, which is poor and not suitable for swimming, at above 260 units per 100 millilitres; yellow, which is fair and may be suitable for swimming; and green, which is good and suitable for swimming.
Swimming in the section of the Yarra that runs through the CBD is illegal because of boat traffic.
University of Melbourne stormwater expert Tim Fletcher said the water quality of the Yarra varied dramatically.
It was difficult to compare the Yarra to the Seine because Paris does not separate its wastewater (water from toilets, showers and sinks) and stormwater (from gutters, rooftops and streets), he said.
In Paris, the two types of wastewater are treated together before being released into the Seine. But the treatment plants can be overwhelmed when there is heavy rain and both are discharged untreated.
In Melbourne, wastewater is treated but stormwater flows directly into the Yarra and the ocean.
“Our wastewater system is less of a threat to waterways than it is in Europe, but our stormwater system is more of a threat,” Fletcher said. “It’s swings and roundabouts.”
He said that just as Paris cleaned up the Seine, Melbourne could improve the Yarra by channelling run-off from roads and roofs through a stormwater control measure like a wetland, re-vegetating rural areas so farm animals cannot directly access the river and removing illegal wastewater connections into the river.
At the upcoming Birrarung River Fest, a forum on swimmable cities will examine what can be learnt from the rest of the world to make swimming in the CBD a reality.
Melbourne Water senior manager Geraldine Plas said the Paris Olympics showed water quality in city rivers was a complex issue.
Taking the plunge into the Seine in the women’s triathalon at the Paris Olympics.Credit: Getty Images
“It requires strong collaborative action, and we can all play a role,” she said. “Preventing rubbish, grease, oil and other contaminants from entering the stormwater drainage system is the most effective way to reduce pollution.”
Before European settlers arrived, the Yarra sustained the Wurundjeri people for thousands of years. And about 100 years ago, Deep Rock was a popular swimming spot that had bathing boxes and diving competitions.
Meg Elkins said she would like to see more people swimming in the Yarra.
“There are people in the [Yarra Yabbies] whose life ambition is to get in at Deep Rock and swim around to their work in Richmond,” she says.
“I’m a bit evangelical about swimming in the river because I know how transformative it has been for me.”
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