Umbilo River

River in South Africa

29°53′56″S 31°00′13″E / 29.89899°S 31.00373°E / -29.89899; 31.00373

The Umbilo River is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The river rises in Kloof to the west of the city of Durban and the mouth of the river is situated in Durban harbour.

The Umbilo River forms part of the Durban Metro's D'Moss trail and conservation efforts.

Environmental Issues

In 2015 residents complained about the constant pollution of the river over the previous two years, including terrible smell and a colour change to “smurf blue”.^[1] In October 2020, high levels of E. coli had been detected in the river, due to a malfunction at a sewage pump station.^[2] One week later 100 thousand litres of crude oil spilled into the Umbilo River.^[3] ^[4]

In July 2020, a petition^[5] had been started by Greenpeace Africa and the uMbilo River Watch community group to stop the heavy pollution.^[6]

References

^ Tsinde, Sanelisiwe (2015-11-08). "Umbilo River turns blue". Highway Mail. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
^ Majola, Nokulunga (2020-10-12). "Environmentalists raise concern over polluted Durban river". Retrieved 2022-06-01.
^ Rall, Se-Anne (2020-10-20). "LOOK: Thousands of litres of crude oil spills into Umbilo River". Retrieved 2022-06-01.
^ Majola, Nokulunga (2020-10-21). "Massive oil spill in Umbilo River". Retrieved 2022-06-01.
^ Pillay, Delwyn (2020-07-08). "STOP the ECOCIDE of the uMbilo River". vuma.earth. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
^ "Greenpeace volunteers demand end to ecocide of uMbilo River". Berea Mail. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2022-06-01.