A private main was responsible for a sewage leak into Belmore Basin on Saturday, Sydney Water has confirmed.
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Illawarra resident Adam Nurzynski was walking with his two-year-old daughter Gabby and friends from England near the harbour around 7pm when he detected a foul odour in the area.
He traced the stench to a sandstone wall near the jetty, saying it appeared to be coming from milky white water pouring out of cracks in the wall.
‘‘I’ve worked around sewage before and I know it when I see it,’’ Mr Nurzynski said.
‘‘It was a steady stream and it stunk.
‘‘The smell is common, but this is the first time I’ve seen effluent,’’ he added.
Mr Nurzynski was disappointed by the incident.
‘‘We get a lot of visitors to the harbour and it’s not a good look, especially when there’s kids swimming in the water.’’
A Sydney Water spokeswoman on Sunday confirmed the agency had received a call at 8.30pm that evening about a possible sewage leak at the site, prompting workers to investigate.
They found the leak to be from a private main.
Sydney Water spoke to the owner of the property, who was arranging tankers and then a permanent fix to the leak, she said.