About Yonge Nawe

Programmes

Resources

Press Information

Membership

Links

Search

Contact Us
 

Latest Update (September 2004) Click here to read Yonge Nawe's Summary of Impacts from SPM's Environmental Assessment Audit

Background
Swazi Paper Mills has been polluting the Usushwana River, which is a primary source for downstream residents from the Masundvwini and Nhlambeni communities since it started operations in 1991. 

According to a submission of the 25th of March 2003 by concerned citizens and residents from Dwaleni, health authorities acknowledge that there is now chronic cholera amongst the communities of Masundvwini and Nhlambeni as incidentally, all their domestic water areas needs are sources from Usushwana River downstream from Swazi Paper Mills.  The river has virtually no aquatic life.  The river is full of paper fibre from effluent released by Swazi Paper Mills resulting in a too high biological oxygen demand. 

Swazi Paper Mills operates 24 hours a day and continually pollutes the nearby Usushwana River.  The mill also operates without an effective water treatment plant.  Chemicals, sludge and paper fibre make their way into the Usushwana River.  The river can be described as "Swaziland’s own dead sea".

There is no sign of aquatic life along the river.  Five kilometers downstream traces of paper fibre are found in the River.  Residents have now decided to drink water from the Swaziland Electricity Board canal because it looks much cleaner.  Tests conducted on Swazi Paper Mills effluent revealed the following:

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
COD is used as a measurement of pollutants in natural and wastewaters to assess the strength of discharged waste such as sewage and industrial effluent waters.  It is normally measured in both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants and gives an indication of the efficiency of the treatment process.  COD is measured in both influent and effluent water (before and after treatment).  The government of Swaziland under the Water Act of 1967 has set the standards of 75 parts per million for maximum levels of "oxygen demand" for all discharged wastewaters. 

Tests sampled on the 16 July 2003, along the Usushwana River but upstream from Swazi Paper Mills indicated a COD level of 0.0 ppm.  Another sample taken on the 18 July 2003 upstream from Swazi Paper Mills indicated a COD level of 2.04 ppm.  The results reveal that the Usushwana upstream has enough COD and is within the standards.

Tests sampled on the 16 July 2003 on SPM effluent indicated an astonishing COD level of 1,305.60 ppm.  Tests sampled on the 18 July 2003 on SPM effluent indicated an even higher COD level of 2,978.40 ppm.  This is 40 times above the acceptable national standards.

Given the levels of COD in the water it is no surprise that aquatic life cannot survive without the necessary levels of oxygen.

Suspended Solids 
Suspended solids are another measurement used to detect pollutants in industrial effluent waters.  The government of Swaziland under the Water Act of 1967 has set the standards of 25 parts per million for maximum levels of suspended solids for all discharged wastewaters. 

Tests sampled on the 16 July 2003 to analyse suspended solids on SPM effluent indicated a level of 2,467 ppm.  This is 98 times above the acceptable national standards.  Tests sampled on the 18 July 2003 to analyse suspended solids on SPM effluent indicated an even higher level of 3,925ppm.  This is 157 times above the acceptable national standards.

Total Solids
Total solids measurement is used to detect pollutants in industrial effluent waters.  Total solids are dissolved solids plus suspended and settleable solids in water.  In stream water, dissolved solids consist of calcium, chlorides, nitrate, phosphorus, iron, sulphur, and other ion particles that will pass through a filter with pores of around 2 microns (0.002 cm) in size. Suspended solids include silt and clay particles, plankton, algae, fine organic debris, and other particulate matter.  These are particles that will not pass through a 2-micron filter. 

The concentration of total dissolved solids affects the water balance in the cells of aquatic organisms.  An organism placed in water with a very low level of solutes/hypotonic medium such as distilled water, will swell up because water will tend to move into its cells, which have a higher concentration of solutes.  An organism placed in water with a high concentration of solutes/hypotonic medium will shrink somewhat because the water in its cells will tend to move out. This will in turn affect the organism's ability to maintain the proper cell density, making it difficult to keep its position in the water column. It might float up or sink down to a depth to which it is not adapted, and it might not survive. 

A high concentration of total solids will make drinking water unpalatable and might have an adverse effect on people who are not used to drinking such water.  Levels of total solids that are too high or too low can also reduce the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, as well as the operation of industrial processes that use raw water. 

Total solids also affect water clarity.  Higher solids decrease the passage of light through water, thereby slowing photosynthesis by aquatic plants. Water will heat up more rapidly and hold more heat; this, in turn, might adversely affect aquatic life that has adapted to a lower temperature regime. Sources of total solids include industrial discharges, sewage, fertilizers, road runoff, and soil erosion. 

Tests sampled on the 16 July 2003 to analyse total solids on SPM effluent indicated a level of 2,584ppm. Tests sampled on the 18 July 2003 indicated total solids of 4,054ppm. This figure almost doubled in two days.

SPM is also dumping effluent on a nearby vacant piece of land. Two employees of SPM stated that a dam has been dug out and filled to capacity with effluent.  Not far off from the dam is another opening that is being used to dump effluent.  The truck driver mentioned that effluent is dumped twelve times a day with a registered SPM truck. 

According to the Waste Regulations, 2000, all industrial effluent should be treated before it is discharged into nearby watercourses. Effluent should not be disposed of underground because it pollutes underground aquifers. Solid wastes are also being dumped on the vacant piece of land. Used chemical bags are also dumped on the vacant land, which is not fenced or protected. Animals graze and drink the contaminated water.

Expansion
In view of the problems caused by SPM on the Usushwana River the company is in the process of expanding its operations by introducing a pulp mill and chipping plant. This development is feared will cause more harm to the environment, animals and people because the current operations are not environmentally friendly. There has been outcry and objections by concerned citizens about this proposed expansion.

Conclusion
The SPM operations are absolutely environmentally and socially unsustainable and redress of the situation is long overdue.