The South African National Accreditation System (Sanas) issued the Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM) Water Quality Testing Laboratory in Ermelo with a certificate of accreditation, effective from 18 May 2017 to 17 May 2022.
This means that GSDM is a fully accredited testing laboratory for quality water. Quality water testing will apply not only to local municipalities, but also to the private sector and parastatals which deal with water.
GSDM Municipal Manager, Mr Cijimpi Habile, has described the accreditation of the facility as the biggest achievement of the past financial year (2016/17).
He commended Ms Victoria Tshabalala, Head for Scientific Services, and her colleagues in the Department of Infrastructure and Technical Services (ITS) for being the driving force behind the realisation of this dream.
“We encourage people from other sectors to use our facilities to get quality tested water. Water is a resource used by everyone. We all need clean and potable water, so these tests will come in handy for people within and outside the district to use our services to test their water since we are now accredited to do so,” said Mr Habile.
The state-of-the-art laboratory adjacent to the GSDM offices was officially opened in July 2010 by the then Water Affairs Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica.
It offers chemical, bacteriological and hydrobiology testing services.
The laboratory is equipped with state of the art equipment to perform various analyses.
The GSDM Water Quality Laboratory was established to meet the need to improve water quality and is expected to guarantee safe drinking water to over a million residents of the district.
It will serve all businesses, the seven local municipalities falling within the Gert Sibande District and people across the borders.
