A report published by University of Western Sydney researchers says people have been swimming in Western Sydney rivers contaminated with “hazardous levels of faecal bacteria”, yet they had not been warned or notified.
The report, Swimmability – A key element for communities to safely engage with Australian urban rivers, was critical of the authorities for not warning residents when rivers were not safe for swimming.
“This is a failure of the ‘duty of care’ of the agencies that collect water data, but remain silent when bacterial water quality results indicate a potential risk to human health and safety,” the report said.
“The community need to be alerted when water quality is hazardous and when human contact with water should be avoided.”
The researchers made several recommendations including: increased monitoring of key recreational sites and microbial water quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River need to be carried out more regularly; and procedures for more rapid and effective communication regarding microbial results need to be adopted.
“This situation is diabolical,” says Campbelltown MP and Labor’s spokesman for Western Sydney, Greg Warren.
“This state government knew the river was contaminated with hazardous levels of faecal bacteria yet they have allowed Western Sydney residents, including little children, to continue to frolic around in the dirty water.
“I, like the rest of Western Sydney, am disgusted by these results,’’ Mr Warren said.
