KaNyamazane residents frustrated by dirty tap water

The local residents have expressed their frustration over the lack of clean water in the area.

According to them, they fear for their health, because the water is brown or, sometimes, yellow. They say have had to deal with this issue for years and they want to see change. A community member from Ext 1, Vusi Sibiya, said he has resorted to buying water from the shops.

“The tap water is not drinkable; sometimes it comes out looking brown. There have been instances in which we would wait until the water looks cleaner before using it to wash the dishes or laundry. This is why we end up buying water.

“This is not an issue that only affects Ext 1. I used to live in Ext 19 and I experienced the same problem. It’s all over Lekazi,” he said.

Bongani Mthimkhulu said: “The water from our taps is obviously not clean, and I feel that it is not healthy to drink. Sometimes I get stomach cramps after drinking it.”

Meanwhile, in Tekwane North, residents expressed their dismay over water shortages. A community member, Amanda Shongwe, said they sometimes go as long as three days without water.

Another community member who asked to remain anonymous, said their section does not have water and they have resorted to illegally connecting to the water line.

Lowvelder Express sent an enquiry to the spokesperson of the City of Mbombela, Joseph Ngala, who said the incidences of brown water are caused by pipe bursts.

“The supply of water to KaNyamazane is intermittent due to the demand exceeding the supply capacity. Sometimes there are isolated incidences of brown water. This is mainly due to pipe bursts when silt or mud would find its way into the network during pipe repairs.

“These, however, are isolated incidences that should not be viewed as the water supply from the plant being dirty.”

He added that the water purified at the KaNyamazane Waterworks meets the South African National Standards (SANS 241) for drinking water quality.

“Tekwane North’s water supply is disturbed by the illegal connections from the mushrooming informal areas along the bulk supply line from Karino Waterworks. Provisions for supply manifolds have been made and these are supplied with water on specific days of the week,” Ngala said.

He advised the community to refrain from connecting illegally as this compromises the integrity of the infrastructure.

“This leaves the same vulnerable people dealing with foreign objects entering the system through leakages caused by the poor plumbing work by the community when they connect themselves,”
he said.

The newspaper contacted Silulumanzi. When asked if he has received complaints from community members regarding dirty tap water, Silulumanzi’s spokesperson, Richmond Jele, said they are not aware of any complaints before or at the time of the enquiry.

“However, there is a possibility of some corrosion or silt in the dry water pipes that could get released during the initial few seconds when water is reopened and resumes flowing, and therefore gets resupplied to the community.”

Jele said the water shortages are caused by the capacity of the bulk water infrastructure that is struggling to cope with the increasing demand as a result of population growth and illegal land invasions.

He said this adds more pressure on the bulk water distribution system. Jele also said the advent of load-shedding and load reduction makes purified water availability worse.

“It does take considerable time to replenish the bulk water distribution system and resume a reliable schedule for the equitable distribution of safe drinking water to various communities.”

Jele said Silulumanzi collects water samples from the water treatment works, reservoirs and the reticulation pipes for which it is responsible.

He said if the water quality does not fully meet SANS 241 standards, they implement corrective actions.