Traces of E. coli detected in PTA water

Traces of Escherichia coli (E. coli) was recently found in water in the Pretoria Moot area, Pretoria Moot Rekord reports.

This was confirmed when a resident from Wonderboom South, Isabel Stoltz, noticed her dogs had diarrhoea.

READ MORE: Catastrophic levels of E. coli in Mpumalanga dams and rivers

“I immediately thought it was the food. I returned to the shop I bought the food from to find out what was going on,” she said.

“They took the bag of food back for testing and also took a sample of the water.”

She said according to the shop, they had a similar occurrence where it was the water that was causing the diarrhoea.

The test results, taken in April/May this year showed that the water had traces of E. coli.

The report was conducted by a Sanas accredited laboratory from Pretoria, who confirmed the information on Thursday.

Stoltz said on Tuesday the dog’s diarrhoea had improved slightly, but was not completely gone.

“This makes me wonder if the water still has any traces of it,” she said.

Tshwane metro spokesperson Selby Bokaba told Pretoria Moot Rekord on Friday that the department of water and sanitation would investigate the matter.

“The metro needs to inspect on-site the alleged E. coli contamination and give factual findings,” he said.

Upon query, ward councillor Elmarie Linde was not aware of the matter.

E. coli is a type of bacterium that normally lives in the intestines of people and animals.

Some of the early symptoms of E. coli infection may include fever, nausea, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.