NATIONAL NEWS - As thousands of holidaymakers prepare to descend on KwaZulu-Natal’s coastline, new municipal water-quality test results show that at least 15 Durban beaches have recorded poor bacterial levels, with some exceeding safe limits by massive margins.
The latest figures, released by eThekwini Municipality from tests conducted between 12 and 26 November, show E. coli and Enterococcus levels far above international standards, raising red flags about faecal contamination during the peak tourism season.
Affected beaches
According to eThekwini’s dedicated portal for Durban beach water quality, these are the affected beaches:
- Westbrook
- Casuerina (Tongaat)
- La Mercy
- Umdloti Tidal Area
- Umdloti main
- Umdloti South
- Umhlanga Rocks Bronze, Main, Granny’s Pool and Lighthouse
- Glenashley
- Virginia
- Beachwood
- Umlaas
- Umkomaas
A status report from the municipality, from 20 November, showed only one beach was closed for swimming, Anstey’s beach.
What ‘poor’ water quality means
The city measures water quality every two weeks and classifies results according to international beach-safety guidelines.
According to these standards, counts below 130 cfu/100ml are ideal, 130–500 acceptable, and anything above 500 is considered poor, signalling possible contamination from “humans and other warm-blooded animals”.
North Coast beaches dominate
Most beaches flagged as unsafe are on the North Coast, starting with Westbrook, where E. coli levels reached 909 cfu/100ml and Enterococcus 1 725 cfu/100ml on 25 November. The report card rates both results as “poor”.
Further north, Casuarina (Tongaat) recorded even worse readings, 2 187 E. coli and 1 430 Enterococcus, also classified as “poor”.
La Mercy is among the worst affected: both tests recorded an alarming 24 196 cfu/100ml, far exceeding acceptable limits. Despite this, the beach’s litter rating is marked as “clean”.
All three Umdloti sites; the tidal area, main beach and Umdloti South, returned poor E. coli readings, ranging from 571 to 638 cfu/100ml.
The tidal area and main beach also recorded poor Enterococcus levels, though Umdloti South showed an “acceptable” Enterococcus count of 327 cfu/100ml.
Popular holiday spots in Umhlanga were rated “poor”, also taking a knock.
- Umhlanga Rocks Bronze: E. coli 1 374, Enterococcus 738.
- Umhlanga Rocks Main: E. coli 2 178, Enterococcus 691.
- Granny’s Pool: E. coli 1 904, Enterococcus 538.
- Umhlanga Lighthouse: E. coli 3 784, Enterococcus 763.
Beaches see severe contamination
Beachwood, in particular, returned E. coli levels of 4 611 cfu/100ml and an Enterococcus count of 1 860, both labelled “poor”. Its litter index of 10 rated it “moderately clean”.
Further south, Umlaas again showed extreme E. coli levels of 24 196 cfu/100ml on 13 November, though Enterococcus was “ideal” at 121 two days earlier. The beach, however, received a “dirty” rating on its litter index.
At Umkomaas, readings from 26 November show 573 E. coli and 1 081 Enterococcus, both categorised as “poor”, although the beach itself is noted as “very clean”.
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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