The River Derwent could be off limits to swimmers for weeks, just as the holiday season gets underway, following a sewage spill.
Matt Balfe from TasWater said their Cameron Bay Sewage Treatment Plant has been impacted by waste from Mondelez International’s Cadbury factory.
He said TasWater had been working with Mondelez for three weeks as they upgraded their factory pre-treatment processes before receiving unsafe water testing results at 6:30pm on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, in the last 48 hours, we’ve received a big spike of sugar, essentially sugary water, that has entered our treatment plant and this has disrupted our biological processes,” he said.
“In simple terms, it’s killed the bugs that eat the sewage and this has meant that only partially treated water is now entering the Derwent.”
In response, the chocolate factory has been issued a “cease-discharge” notice while TasWater works to restore the plant’s biological balance.
“4,500 kilolitres [of waste] per day goes through this treatment plant. Obviously, with Mondelez not discharging to the treatment plant, it’s significantly less than that,” Balfe said.
“We would never ask any of our customers to shut down their operations. All, I suppose, we can ask is that they cease discharge to our network, which is our responsibility.”
The Department of Health has advised the public to avoid contact with the river from Old Beach to Sandy Bay and Howrah.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff urged locals to take the warnings seriously.
“The Environment Protection Authority and TasWater are managing the incident and are working closely with the Public Health on the public health impacts,” he said.
“The government has met with Mondelez this morning and they have given their commitment in supporting their workers during this time.”
