Silulumanzi receives excellent Blue Drop results for City of Mbombela’s water

As people get ready to visit Mbombela for the much-anticipated Innibos Lowveld National Arts Festival, guests and residents can rest assured that the city’s drinking water is of an excellent quality.

The Nelspruit Water Treatment Plant, operated by Silulumanzi, obtained the highest score for water systems in Mpumalanga. The technical site assessment conducted by auditors from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and Blue Drop, focus on the technical overview of the current condition of the water networks, pump stations, and storage and treatment facilities involved in drinking water supply.

The DWS’s minister, Senzo Mchunu, said water and wastewater have become a focal topic both locally and across the country, following the recent cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, highlighting the deadly effect of poorly managed water and sanitation infrastructure, the detrimental effects it has on human lives, as well as the negative impact to the environment.

ALSO READ:Hazyview water chaos continues

“The Blue Drop Certification Programme was launched by the national DWS in 2008 to encourage and acknowledge continuous improvement and performance excellence in drinking water services management throughout South Africa. The objective is to provide the South African public with credible and transparent results on the status and quality of their drinking water and the water service institutions supplying the water,” he said.

ALSO READ: Lowveld’s floods damage repairs to commence soon

Silulumanzi’s managing director, Shyam Misra, said this serves to reiterate that the water provided by the company complies with the stringent water quality standards of the South African National Standards Bureau and is safe to drink. Silulumanzi is a subsidiary of the South African Water Works and is the duly appointed concession holder of the City of Mbombela since 1999. It serves the areas of Nelspruit, KaNyamazane, Matsulu, Tekwane, Daantjie and Msogwaba up to Zwelisha.

“The success achieved by our water utility in the Blue Drop Watch Report was not only due to a great team effort, but by empowering women in the workplace. The Nelspruit Water Works incorporates a strong team of women who were instrumental in ensuring the company delivers safe and clean water to its customers. This is a great achievement for Silulumanzi and we wish to reassure our customers that our water is safe to drink,” she said.

“Silulumanzi is proud to serve the residents within its service area. The results of the current and previous Blue Drop audits together, with the company’s ISO Accreditation for Quality Management (ISO 9001), Environmental Management (ISO 14001) and Health & Safety Management (ISO 45001), serve as testimony to our company’s unrelenting strive to deliver optimal, safe and efficient services to its consumers,” Misra added.