Endumeni residents and visitors have had to cope with ‘sandy and foul tasting water’ this festive season with regular cut off as the drought continues – despite some rain.
Hannelie Hickley of uThukela Water said despite the questionable taste, the water does meet laid down standards.
“Regular weekly raw and reticulated water samples are taken and analysed in the laboratory, and these results are measured against the set SANS 241:2015 drinking water standards. I can confirm that the analytical results of the water samples for the entire month of December 2015 did meet with the SANS 241:2015 drinking water standards,” she said.
She explained that a ‘planned raw water outage’ occurred on December 9 at the Tayside Raw Water Pump Station in order to carry out routine maintenance work. During this outage ,no raw could be pumped from the Buffalo River to the plant, and we had no other alternative, but to use the low and depleted water stocks at the Verdruk and Tom Worthington dams in order to ensure a supply to the towns during this outage.
‘I can advise that although the potable water may have temporarily had this indifferent taste and smell as a consequence of the aforementioned treatment, that the water is safe and fit for human consumption.’
“It is an unfortunate predicament that the raw water in the dams is, due to the prevailing drought conditions, very low and stagnant, and, unfortunately, fouled with algae and a depleted level of oxygen.
“We did, as is a standard requirement, treat the water with activated carbon to take care of the problematic raw water conditions, and this will account for the tainted smell and taste in the water.
“I can advise that although the potable water may have temporarily had this indifferent taste and smell as a consequence of the aforementioned treatment, that the water is safe and fit for human consumption.
“Water quality results are published on the Department of Water and Sanitations Blue Drop website for consumer information and comfort.”
Dundee and Tayside had some heavy rain over the weekend, this has resulted in high turbidity raw water from the Buffalo River. Hopefully this has also washed some of the algae in the Buffalo River downstream.
