Zinkwazi residents are upset about their tap water, which has gone from fresh and clear to foul smelling and urine-coloured.
Zinkwazi’s Cliff Hatt said many people are now buying water, as they do not want to drink the tap water.
Tanya Rutherford, also from Zinkwazi, said the tap water tastes bad, has a funny smell and is a misty brown colour.
The Zinkwazi Beach Residents and Rate Payers Association (ZBRRA) have also received calls about the bad state of the tap water.
The residents believe the water is so nasty, because is it Darnall water instead of their normal borehole water.
The rumour is that Ilembe municipality has not paid the Eskom bill for the pumps that pump the borehole water into the reservoir that feeds the town.
Manager for water services for the Ilembe municipality, Elias Bhengu said Eskom did disconnect these pumps, but the issue was cleared on the same day.
“We have a very good relationship with Eskom. The particular employee who deals with our account always warns us if we are placed on the disconnection list because our account is in arrears. However, this employee was on leave and the person filling in for him at the time, did not warn us and so the pumps were disconnected.”
Bengu said although they do use Darnall water as a backup plan, there was no need to do so in this case, because the pumps were switched on a day or so after the disconnection.
“Zinkwazi stayed on borehole water, which is clean, safe water.”
Bengu however said there should not be any problems with the water, since it is the same borehole water Zinkwazi has always had.
He said if any of the residents are concerned about their water, they should report the problem to him, so that they can test the water.
