Bryanston river water unsafe to drink
Rotary Sandton had the water tested when cleaning along the river.
Bacterial analysis of the water in the Braamfontein Spruit, running through Riverside Park, which is used by the Bryanston East Community Forum Parkrun, has revealed that the water has tested positive for coliform bacteria.
Coliform bacteria are organisms found in human or animal faeces.
The sample was collected when Rotary Sandton held a river clean-up community engagement initiative on June 8. Rotary Sandton president Ntombi Mhangwani hailed the campaign as a partnership rooted in collectively celebrating World Environment Day.
“We’re learning about the role we have to play as South Africans towards ensuring that our families are consuming water that is clean, correctly purified, all through playing our part in making South Africa a beautiful place to live in,” Mhangwani said.
“A team from Woolworths Riverside in Bryanston is here helping out. We were sponsored with gloves and necessary gear to pick up rubbish by Accenture and we’re working with WaterCAN to test the water.”
World Environment Day was celebrated internationally on June 5. Mhangwani said, people needed to become involved in efforts to conserve the natural environment.
“Everybody needs to play their part. This is our country; if we don’t keep it clean, then who else will.”
At the clean-up, past Rotary president David Haddon managed to finally tackle a giant hosepipe-looking cable in the water which he had first seen in November last year.
“It was stuck on the west side,” Haddon explained. “This time around I brought my shears and I’ve got it.”
The report by WaterCAN cited sewage discharge as being the likely cause of the presence of the bacteria. The chemical analysis conducted found the water to be mostly safe, although with warnings for phosphate and total chlorine content.
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