Swan river water quality

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westozwind

1419 posts

westozwind

WA, 1419 posts

9 Dec 2003 10:26am

Does anyone know of a site that gives meaningful info on water quality in Melville water? With the numerous spills from various sources over the years, the Water and Rivers commission only publish warning when the levels of toxins/poo etc. reach an arbitrary unsafe mark. What if the level is just below for a few weeks? I'm not saying that it's unsafe, but the gel coat of a board I used mainly in the river last year did take on a brownish hue

.
It would be great to be able to see levels not just for Melville water, but Cockburn sound and somewhere around Scabs. Anyone at Uni got access to testing equipment?

southwind

27 posts

southwind

WA, 27 posts

9 Dec 2003 1:28pm

Good posting...

I sail Melville Water regularly and if taste or burning sensation is anything to go by (its not) the water quality is OK at the moment. It would be very interesting to see some data on faecal count, algal counts etc throughout the Swan over the dry summer months.

GT

10 posts

WA, 10 posts

10 Dec 2003 11:52am

Here are some websites from the Water and Rivers Commission. The first one is a algae alert for each week and the second is the index page which includes their weekly sampling data and reports (including annual reports..if you are really interested

). Hope this helps!

~~http://www.wrc.wa.gov.au/srt/algalalert/index.html~~

www.wrc.wa.gov.au/srt/index.html

Also, the Swan has high tannins that stain your board in a similar way that tea does to a mug. The tannins come from decaying leaves along the river and as far as I know are harmless. If you want to get rid of your brownish hue on your board just use something like CLR. I used it on my board and it looked as good as new! but you might want to check on a small part of your board first...

Radmac

201 posts

Radmac

WA, 201 posts

15 Dec 2003 1:53pm

I would be surprised if the faecal (e. coli count) is at all noticible. There would have to be a spill and even then it would be fairly localised. The river will absorb that fairly quickly

The Pump Station at Pelican Point would have an overflow to the river, as would the Main Pump Station near the Brewery. The warning light would go off a long time before if one of the pumps broke down, and alternative pumps employed. The only problem is if there is a power outage similar to teh one we suffered 8-10 years ago. Then the **** has to go somewhere!

Cockburn and Scarboro would also be low. The only faecals would be from swimmers and dogs

As for toxins, there is the problem of algal blooms. Barring a total ban on fertilisers, this will continue to be a problem. I suggest that when you see fish floating in the Swan, it may be time to head down to Safety Bay (more wind there anyway).

Good know that the stain is from tannins - will try the CLR on my board. Might make me go a bit faster, if I get rid of them.

More risk is from having an accident while sailing ( see a few broken legs, and there was that guy who drowned after being knocked out)

See you down there ... have fun

Radmac

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