AS SUMMER approaches, how about a nice dip in the Cooks River?
It is an idea that fills most people with horror, but the Cooks River Valley Association is calling for the river to be cleaned up to such an extent that swimming would be possible.
‘‘There are viable swimming spots on other Sydney waterways, like the Lane Cove River and the Georges River. Why would people living near the Cooks River be content with a waterway that is too contaminated to swim anywhere, any time?’’ association spokeswoman Gayle Adams said.
Considering raw sewage contamination is one of the major problems affecting the river, swimming appears to be a long way off.
In fact Sydney Water’s waste water manager Rodney Kerr admitted the quality of the water in the river was no better now than 20 years ago.
‘‘I wouldn’t have thought so,’’ Mr Kerr said, when asked if the water had improved.
And it isn’t likely to start getting better until 2016 if Sydney Water sticks to its current timetable.
Mr Kerr said the dry weather overflow reduction program that targeted sewer blockages and the dry weather leakage program, which looked for cracks and faults in sewers, were due to be rolled out in the Cooks River catchment in 2016.
Following a damning report by University of NSW academic Stuart Khan, which found extensive contamination of the river via the sewerage system, Sydney Water took the Leader on a tour of the Cooks River last week to test for contamination.
Mr Kerr was adamant that while there were traces of sewage contamination, they were at extremely low levels.
‘‘This is not raw sewage,’’ Mr Kerr said after sampling officers tested Cup and Saucer Creek, a tributary of the Cooks. ‘‘It is a very low level of contamination.’’
But Mr Kerr’s claims directly contradict Dr Khan’s study, which looked for traces of caffeine and common pharmaceuticals in the river to gauge the extent of sewage leakages.
Dr Khan said the level of these products in the river was similar to those found in undiluted raw sewage.
‘‘The range was on par with the concentrations found in raw sewage,’’ Dr Khan said.
He said the highest concentrations were found in Cup and Saucer Creek.
Sydney Water and Dr Khan agree the source of much of this contamination is houses. Mr Kerr said illegal private connections linking stormwater run-off to the sewerage system contributed to sewers becoming overloaded when it rained.
Dr Khan said many of these connections existed in old houses built on the Earlwood side of the river before the public sewerage system was properly established.
Dr Khan said reconnecting houses properly to the system would be a massive undertaking.
But for nearby residents like Ms Adams, waiting is not good enough.
‘‘Are there any other waterways in Sydney which have languished so long with such poor levels of water quality?’’ she said. ‘‘The Cooks River has waited long enough.’’
HOW OTHER RIVERS ARE FARING
Georges River
Georges River Environmental Alliance secretary Sharyn Cullis on the problems facing the river: The middle reaches of the river are in poor health, with tributaries such as Salt Pan Creek and Cabramatta Creek polluting the river. Lower reaches of the river benefit from the flushing of the tides and are usually swimmable.
Hacking River
Otford Protection Society’s Natasha Watson on the major problems faced by the river: Sewage spills, including a major one in May this year. Pollution from the Metropolitan Coal mine in Helensburgh. Proposals to add more houses in the river catchment area at Helensburgh.
Ms Watson said there was very little swimming in the upper catchment of the river any more because of concerns about pollution.
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