There is no cancer-causing pesticides in Gauteng’s drinking water

There are no cancer-causing pesticides in Gauteng’s drinking water.

Following a recent article, which mentioned that cancer-causing pesticides were found in catfish from the Klip River, which feeds into the Vaal River, Rand Water made it clear that all its drinking water is safe.

Justice Mohale, spokesperson for Rand Water, said the drinking water for Gauteng, as supplied by Rand Water, is abstracted from the Vaal Dam. The Vaal Dam is located upstream of both the Klip River and Vaal River that were mentioned in the article.

“Rand Water continuously conducts intensive routine monitoring for all determinants as required by the South African National Drinking Water Standard. Analyses are conducted on both the source water and the drinking water supplied to our customers.

“Additionally, Rand Water also tests for other contaminants biannually in source and treated water in the interest of public health protection. These contaminants include pesticides (including Aldrin, Dieldrin, Andrin, Lindane, Heptachlor and DDT which were mentioned in the article) and industrial chemicals,” Mohale said.

“These specific pesticides have not been detected in any of our source and treated waters. Our results indicate that the drinking water complies to SANS241 and the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline limits, as well as other international standards for drinking water.

“The results are made available to all Rand Water’s customers and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and are published in Rand Water’s annual report. Therefore, the tap water supplied by Rand Water in Gauteng is safe to drink.”