Gold Coast swimmers have been told to avoid one of the city’s most popular waterways after it became contaminated by a sewage leak on Tuesday.
The city council confirmed the leak occurred sometime on Tuesday night after a sewerage main on Duringan St was broken by construction works on the Pacific motorway.
While the leak was contained immediately, warnings remain in place for Currumbin Creek pending further testing by officials.
Currumbin Creek is one of the Gold Coast’s most popular waterways for swimming. Picture: Supplied.
Speaking to the Gold Coast Bulletin, a council spokesman said: “In an abundance of caution, the city recommends avoiding swimming in the Currumbin Creek downstream from the spill site until test results are received tomorrow. We will keep the community updated.
“Although all site inspections carried out this morning suggest creek conditions appear normal, signage has been placed in the direct vicinity of the spill site, adjacent to the Currumbin RSL, while further testing is undertaken.”
The council recommends avoiding swimming in the Currumbin Creek downstream from the spill site until test results are received on Friday. Picture: Supplied.
The leak marks the second time in the past year that a sewage leak has contaminated a Gold Coast waterway.
In December last year, Tallebudgera Creek was closed for the same reason but reopened just days after water quality testers gave swimmers the green light.
Earlier that year, another leak was discovered in April in which two Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of sewage had spilt from the Bentleigh treatment plant into the nearby river, with the state’s environment department blasting the accident as a “catastrophic failure”.