Izmir Metropolitan Municipality responded to disinformation efforts carried out on images of the discharge of pollutant-free water accumulated in rainwater lines into the sea with analysis results.
The response to the images taken at the point where the system collecting rainwater on the coastline of Kemeraltı and Mustafa Kemal Coastal Boulevard and Cumhuriyet Boulevard meets the sea, which were reported to the press with the claim that domestic wastewater was discharged into the Gulf, came from Dr. Işıkhan Güler, Member of the Gulf Ecology Advisory Board of İZSU General Directorate and Chairman of the Board of İzdeniz. Güler explained that the samples taken from the pumping station at the source of the water were analyzed and that the results showed with documents that the water in question did not meet the standards of domestic wastewater but rainwater.
Scientific reports have proven that the news reports that were made public on Tuesday, March 11 by some press organizations claiming that domestic wastewater was discharged into the Gulf without treatment, and the claims that led to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change imposing penal sanctions on the İZSU General Directorate, do not reflect the truth.
Analyses made in the laboratories of the Laboratory Branch Directorate of the Environment Protection and Control Department of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality IZSU General Directorate, accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK), revealed that the water reflected in the images was not domestic waste, but at rainwater standards.
Stating that all parameters were determined by looking at the samples taken from the Pumping Station, Dr. Işıkhan Güler, Member of the Gulf Ecology Advisory Board of İZSU General Directorate, said, “Analysis was made on the water in the pumping station and the results were in rainwater standards. Laboratory results also show that the water given is not domestic wastewater. In other words, it is not wastewater but sediment rainwater.”
Like the system in the streams
Dr. Işıkhan Güler, who made a statement at the point where the rainwater collection system, which allegedly discharges wastewater into the Gulf of Izmir, meets the sea, noted the following:
“There are two separate systems in the Kemeraltı region. Rainwater and wastewater collection systems. The system works as follows. In extreme rainfalls, rainwater coming from İkiçeşmelik and high altitudes and causing floods in Kemeraltı is collected in a pumping station and discharged into the sea. This is not a continuous situation. When the rainwater collected in the pumping station reaches a certain level, the rainwater is discharged into the sea in order to prevent floods. It can be thought of like the system in streams. The water coming from Kemeraltı and flowing into the sea is rainwater. It is not wastewater.”
“The laboratory results also show everything.”
Dr. Işıkhan Güler, Member of the Gulf Ecology Advisory Board of İZSU General Directorate, said, “In the videos, there is a dark colored water that first comes. This water is the material on the ground brought by the rain. The material that has settled at the bottom of the pumping station initially flows dark and then returns to its normal color. We have analyzed the water in the pumping station and the results are completely in line with clean water standards. The laboratory results also show that the water given is not domestic wastewater. It is not dirty, it is clean water. There is no problem in giving it to the sea in the amount of clean water. It does not harm the ecosystem. Rainwater will go to the sea regardless of the infrastructure. It is a part of the natural cycle.”
Güler said, “Just as sedimentary water comes to the sea from the streams every time it rains, the situation here is the same. As can be seen in the video, first of all, the rainwater pumping station discharges sedimentary material in its tank, so it flows brown, then the color of the water becomes clear. As can be seen in the attached plans, the discharge line here is the discharge line of the rainwater network.”
All values are below the limit
In the evaluation section of the analysis results obtained from the laboratory, it was stated that "When the untreated domestic wastewater was compared with the pollution characteristic parameter values, it was clearly seen that it was not domestic wastewater. In addition, as seen from the analysis value of the conductivity parameter, it is also seen to have the characteristics of seawater."
According to the measurements, the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), which was expected to be 500 mg/L in untreated domestic waste, was below 15 mg/L. While the Total Suspended Solids value was seen as 220 mg/L in wastewater, it was measured as 25 mg/L in the samples taken. It was also seen that the amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen were well below the limit values.
