The Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) confirmed that it’s aware of concerns about the safety of tap water among many of its residents.
“Consumers in some parts of the city are experiencing discoloured water flowing from their taps, and the MCLM wishes to assure residents that their tap water is safe to drink,” read a report from the MCLM Water Services department.
The MCLM said that in a statement the West Rand’s water supplier, Rand Water released on 16 April, the water utility explained that the heavy rainfall during January and February of this year caused the Vaal Dam to fill rapidly to its current capacity of about 104,52 per cent.
“Although this is good news for Mogale City and Gauteng consumers as well as adjacent provinces, the rapid filling also caused some water treatment challenges such as organic material, mostly from riparian vegetation being washed into the dam by the strong flowing rivers entering the dam. This subsequently gave a yellow/ brown colour to the source water, which is also visible in drinking water and when a bath or basin is filled with water. Rand Water, our provincial water supplier acknowledges that the discolouration is displeasing but reassures consumers that these organic compounds are harmless and will have no negative impact on human health, which therefore makes drinking water supplied during this time safe for human consumption,” explained the MCLM.
“Rand Water has also assured us that it is optimising its treatment process to limit the intensity of colour in the drinking water and continues to perform routine extensive water-quality tests to ensure that the quality of drinking water meets strict South African National Standards and World Health Organization standards at all times. In addition to Mogale City Water Services’ routine water quality tests, which we also conducted last week, we can confidently say that tests carried out by Rand Water will suffice and that the city’s water supply is safe for human consumption.”
