<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Raw untreated sewage mixed with storm water is being discharged into the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/brisbane" rel="" target="" title="Brisbane"><span>Brisbane</span></a><span> River, sometimes up to tens of megalitres a month.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The heart of the problem is a crucial under-river sewerage tunnel renewal project by Urban Utilities.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A complication with the works about 18 months ago means the system is being overwhelmed in heavy rain.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/central-highlands-crash-four-dead-including-two-children-queensland-news/5412e339-96f8-447d-bdcf-4810494ff73b" target="_blank"><strong><span>Father and two kids among four killed in horror head-on crash in Queensland</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To relieve that pressure, sewage is dumped into the river near Colmslie Beach Reserve at Morningside.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If we're not doing that then it would flow back into our network and present in people's homes or even their backyards," Urban Utilities chief executive Paul Arnold said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After the downpour in Cyclone Alfred, 9News asked Urban Utilities exactly how much sewage was being dumped.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/raw-untreated-sewage-mixed-with-storm-water-being-discharged-into-major-queensland-river/35ad0132-9b32-493a-a8f8-ede11a930fd0" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The organisation couldn't give a number, but 9News can now reveal about 540 megalitres has been discharged in 18 months, the equivalent of about 216 Olympic-sized swimming pools.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The amount of waste within that flow is really quite small and very difficult to calculate," Arnold said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The quantities reflect a calculation of duration and the frequencies but what's important for the community is they're aware of when the releases occur and that they're advised of the condition of the river during that period."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/hecs-debt-reduction-how-it-will-change-your-pay-from-july-this-year/763cad42-a590-424e-b7f0-a4920cecb367" target="_blank"><strong><span>Millions of Aussies just days away from having their debt slashed</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There is no indication when the works will be completed so the outflows can stop.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Adam Bowden from Stop Raw Sewage into Brisbane Rivers and Creeks said residents have a right to expect better.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We want people to come to Brisbane and see a beautiful [river]," Bowden said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If we continue on the path that we're going, we're not going to see that."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Queensland University of Technology's Dr Luke Shi said for large rivers such as the Brisbane River, the waterway "can actually handle a certain amount of that".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But very importantly, we have to bear in mind is what level of interactions we have during that peak flow period," Shi said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Brisbane City Council monitors levels of dangerous Enterococci bacteria at points along the river.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A reading of 500 indicates there may be "a significant risk of high levels of illness transmission".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Readings at Colmslie after the cyclone were more than three times that level when the sewage outflow was at its highest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However no department will draw the correlation between the two.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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