Cancer causing toxicants found in Klip River
The following press release was released by Rand Water after an article that the sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) – a source of food for people living along the Klip River in Gauteng – contains high levels of toxins that can cause cancer if eaten regularly. The river flows through Soweto, Fleurhof and Lenasia, where the catfish are consumed by residents daily. According to a recently published study in Science of the Total Environment, the fish contain high levels of pesticides that can be extremely harmful to humans.
Carla Pretorius
A recent article mentioned that Cancer causing pesticides were found in catfish from the Klip River. The Klip River feeds into the Vaal River. The drinking water for Gauteng, as supplied by Rand Water, is abstracted from the Vaal Dam. The Vaal Dam is located upstream of both the Klip River and Vaal River that are mentioned in the article.
Rand Water continuously conducts intensive routine monitoring for all determinants as required by the South African National Drinking Water Standard – SANS241. Analyses are conducted on both the source water and the drinking water supplied to our customers. Additionally, Rand Water tests for other contaminants (not part of SANS 241) biannually in source and treated water in the interest of public health protection.
These contaminants include pesticides (including Aldrin, Dieldrin, Andrin, Lindane, Heptachlor and DDT which are mentioned in the article) and industrial chemicals. These specific pesticides have not been detected in any of our source and treated waters. Our results indicate that the drinking water complies to SANS241 and the World Health Organisation guideline limits, as well as other international standards for drinking water.
The results are made available to all Rand Water’s customers and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and are published in Rand Water’s Annual Report, therefore, the tap water supplied by Rand Water in Gauteng is safe to drink.
