Local people living along the Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach in the central city of Da Nang have complained that the sea water became black with brown foam and a foul smell.

The sea water became black with brown foam and a foul smell at Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach in Da Nang City on March 25. Photo by Lao Dong

A 5-kilometre stretch of beach from Phu Loc Bridge in Thanh Khe District to Tran Dinh Tri Beach in Lien Chieu District was affected.

Local people said that they noticed the strange water colour when spreading fishing nets over the past two days since March 24.  

"This is the first time we’ve seen this situation here," a middle-aged local man said.

Director of Da Nang Drainage and Wastewater Treatment Company, Mai Ma, said that there are 28 drainage pipes which are discharging wastewater and rainwater along Nguyen Tat Thanh and Xuan Thieu beaches. 

“But I think that the black water with foam here may be a sea current running to the shore," Ma said. Because most of the wastewater from pipes placed from Phu Loc Bridge to Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach are all well-treated before being discharged into the sea."

Authorities in Lien Chieu District on Sunday asked the local environment protection department to come and take water samples from the beaches for investigation.

Ma said that the water colour has returned to blue again on Monday morning.

Earlier, local people and newspapers reported about beaches in Da Nang being polluted by wastewater discharge.

A wastewater pipe discharges water into the sea at Tho Quang Beach in Son Tra District. Director of Da Nang Drainage and Wastewater Treatment Company, Mai Ma, said that there are nine wastewater discharging pipes along the beaches in Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son districts 

At some places, the waste water has completely washed away the sand, creating a smelly stream heading straight to the sea.

Beaches including My An, My Khe, Man Thai and Tho Quang have as many as 16 discharge locations. As the result, the number of tourists has dwindled. Visitors can't enjoy the scenery because of the smell and a walk along the beach proves to be difficult as the waste water runs across it.

Dtinews