The Danube water is no longer toxic

The toxic metal and organic compounds stop flowing into the Danube thanks to its detoxification efforts on one branch.

>>> Hungarian bauxite waste threatens wide-area pollution
>>> Mud poison spills over the second longest river in Europe

The gypsum excavator is high down the Marcal River to solidify the poison in the red mud. (Photo: AFP)

Nearly 700 thousand cubic meters of waste spilled into 7 villages after the huge bauxite waste storage tank of an aluminum factory near Ajka town in western Hungary broke on October 4. This is the most serious environmental disaster in Hungarian history. At least 7 people died and about 150 people were injured by poison sludge.

The poison seeps into the Raab and Danube rivers in Gyor city on October 7. A Hungarian water administration official informed that the pollution level of the Danube river had exceeded the permitted level.

According to Xinhua, the Hungarian National Disaster Management Agency yesterday measured alkalinity on the Danube section near Gonyu village. This is one of the villages overflowing with red mud. The results show that the pH drops to 7.54 - that is neutral.

During the past few days workers poured tons of gypsum (to precipitate toxic substances) and acetic acid (to reduce alkalinity) to the Marcal River - a tributary of the Danube. Some other measures have also been applied to poisoning the river.

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe (after the Volga river). It flows through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova before pouring into the Black Sea.

Workers cleared mud in Kolontar village, one of the hardest hit areas in the toxic sludge disaster in Hungary, on October 7. (Photo: AP)

Currently, Hungarian authorities are rushing to build a dyke and evacuate people after many large cracks have been discovered on the northern wall of the waste tank that broke on October 4. Zoltan Illes, Environment Minister, said yesterday that the northern side of the tank must have broken within a week.

The reservoir is near the town of Ajka still contains about 2.5 million m3 of red mud. If the wall of the tank is completely broken, the mud will flow to locations between 1,000 and 1,500 m from the tank.

' We don't know if the northern city will suffer for another day or a week, but the disaster can happen at any time, ' he said.

Many experts agree that the pool wall will break, but blocking the red mud from the tank is something they can do. One solution is to transfer waste to another tank.

Minister Illes said the tank would only be safe if it was permanently closed, and the waste inside was transferred to a new tank. However, the new construction project has not yet begun.