Water Week celebrated in Bekkersdal

The Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) together with relevant stakeholders celebrated Water Week at the Mandela Section sports ground in Bekkersdal.

This was on March 24 and the event attracted a big crowd of residents who were taught about the importance of conserving water under the 2023 theme titled, Accelerating Change.

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Water Week for this year was observed from March 20 to March 25 and some of the stakeholders roped in included Rand Water, the Department of Health, and mining house Gold Fields. Gladys Mahlangu who is the Assistant Manager under the Department of Environmental Waste at RWCLM spoke about ways of saving water.

“The purpose of the event is to raise awareness about the importance of water and using it wisely. It is a scarce resource in our country and we need to adopt ways to ensure that we refrain from wasting water and understand how to use it. People in different communities need to play their part and make a change.

“Instead of using a hose pipe when washing cars, people can opt to use a bucket of water and instead of having running water when brushing teeth, one can utilise a cup of water. These are some of the ways that we can implement to be water-wise and refrain from wasting water,” said Mahlangu.

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She added that, unlike in old times, it is no longer safe to consume water from the river, which has been untreated.

Mahlangu also pointed out that particles from illegal dumping in communities get blown into the river streams and that other waste materials also get washed away into rivers due to heavy rains.

This then makes the water contaminated and unsafe for consumption and can result in different types of illnesses. Residents were also educated about Cholera and how to best prevent it.