'Big pong' hits Adelaide
By Jon Lamb
ADELAIDE — A controversy has been literally "brewing" out in the streets over the last few months. Because of a breakdown in the processing of sewage at the state's largest treatment plant, the air has become putrid.
The stench over the city first became noticeable in March and April, when unseasonably warm temperatures along with cloud cover trapped noxious smells and pollution in a temperature inversion, preventing fumes from dissipating. A malfunction at a treatment station near the seaside suburb of Glenelg was also blamed.
After several weeks of what has been called the "big pong", it became apparent that the problem was far more serious. There had been a major breakdown at the Bolivar Sewage Treatment Works.
Several treatment lagoons had been overfilled with effluent and a control gate malfunctioned. Micro-organisms which break down the raw sewage were killed, resulting in putrid lagoons giving off a sulphide or "rotten egg" smell.
Bolivar is administered by SA Water. SA Water is run by a joint French-Anglo consortium called United Water, which took over the Engineering and Water Supply Department (EWS) after the state government privatised it last year.
As recently as early June, United Water insisted that the smell was not attributable to Bolivar, claiming that weather patterns were responsible (despite the Bureau of Meteorology reporting that there was no longer an inversion to trap fumes).
The Port Adelaide-Enfield Council, which covers suburbs adjacent to Bolivar, was inundated with a record 130 air quality complaints in May from residents and local businesses reporting nausea, respiratory problems and a downturn in trade and tourism.
The council sought to take legal action against SA Water over the smell, and over a sewage spill from a burst pipe which flooded a wetland area on May 5. (The general manager for SA Water, Cyril Wear, referred to the incident as "one of those things that happen".)
The state government announced an independent inquiry into the operation of the Bolivar plant on May 28. An expert on sewage treatment from the University of Queensland is heading the inquiry, which is expected to release its findings by the end of June.
Information released so far indicates that the plant has not been properly serviced for many years, and much of the equipment is outdated. Cuts to maintenance staff (the original EWS work force has been reduced by half) have added to the problem.