HEAVY rain that caused flash flooding across the Redlands last week has had lasting effects for a Birkdale couple, who say a foul odour has begun emanating from a creek beside their house ever since.
Roy Schwartfeger, who lives on Collingwood Drive beside Tarradarrapin Creek, said the odour smelt septic and had seen the couple confined to their home at times while they waited for the wind to change direction.
He said there was no point entertaining guests outdoors because of the smell and feared that if it was to return after future floods, it could cause problems for the couple if they were to put their house on the market or rent it out.
"If you had a tenant in here and all of a sudden they were like 'the house smells like crap, we don't want to live here', it could cause problems," Mr Schwartfeger said.
"I think it is the flood that has caused this. The smell will go away but how long will it take? How bad is it going to get as the water level drops?
"...We don't open windows because we are New Zealanders so we run the air-con 24 hours a day but you don't want to sit on the patio.
"I would almost guarantee that if we had a flood like we just did it would happen again. The last couple of years have proven that every time it comes up, we get a smell."
Mr Schwartfeger said the smell was virtually non-existent when they purchased the property three years ago during a hot and dry January.
He said there was a mild stench for the first few months after they moved in but it disappeared when council installed some pipes nearby.
"The lake goes from roaring flood to almost nothing. Only a few months ago we were putting water out for the water dragons because they looked stressed," he said.
"I don't know if the froth (sitting in the creek bed) is a side effect, or just part of it. It could be like anything, you get a bucket of stagnant water, stir it and then you get that stench.
"It is just about knowing whether or not it is from the swamp or whether it is contaminated because the flood could have gotten into the sewers.
"It is not really a concern for us from a health and safety point of view because it is never going to get anywhere near our house, but the creek does run all the way through to the ocean and behind all the houses."
A council spokesman said contaminants could have entered the creek when floodwaters crossed Collingwood Drive last week.
He said sewers would overflow when storm water entered the system and exceeded its capacity during severe weather events.
"This is a problem faced by municipal sewer systems around the world," he said.
"Flood water can collect many contaminants as it flows into creeks - including additional vegetation, silt and chemicals - and once the flood subsides the residue left over is prone to creating odours."
The spokesman said artificial draining of the creek to remove the smell could be harmful to the watercourse and ecosystem.
He did not comment on whether previous flooding on the road had created a similar odour.
Mr Schwartfeger said he had experience working with cattle, which had led him to conclude that the stench was likely to be septic.
"We had septic tanks growing up in New Zealand, I have dealt with cows for years and I have stood inside the Sydney south-west ocean outpour system which... takes all the water out to the ocean and it is the same sort of stink."
Read more local news here.
