Drinking water made me sick, says woman
A woman has alleged that she was hospitalised after of drinking contaminated water in Hammanskraal.
David Matsena
A woman has alleged that she was hospitalised after drinking contaminated water in Hammanskraal.
Siphiwe Phalane told Rekord this week, that she and several residents were admitted to hospital with diarrhea.
“I started feeling pain in my stomach… then started having a runny stomach. My kids rushed me to Jubilee hospital and I knew it was something that I ate or drank [that caused it],” she said.
“In hospital there were several of us who had the same problem. A nurse told us that it was because of the water.”
She said nurses changed their diagnosis when one of the patients suggested they file a class action suit against the government.
“Then they said the problem was not water… but an outbreak of diarrhea,” she said.
However, Tshwane metro spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo said patients did not provide enough evidence about the cause of their diarrhea for the metro to launch an investigation.
Residents were put on a major health alert after it was discovered that their water was contaminated.
Rekord has learned that several people have fallen ill in various sections of Hammanskraal showing the same symptom — diarrhea.
Residents told Rekord they had to boil water for drinking, food preparation and brushing their teeth as a precaution.
It comes after routine tests by an independent lab discovered that the water was unclean.
Residents said they had been asked to take extreme care and boil the water before consuming it.
Mashigo said the Tshwane metro monitored water quality in Hammanskraal, and it was complaint with protocols.
“According to our records the water complies with the standard,” he said, adding that where there were problems, they were dealt with.
“The situation is corrected by the application of carbon dosing and by chlorine floaters in the reservoirs,” he said.
“The situation of water quality changes with time due to quality of runoffs from the catchment area.
“The water quality is monitored timeously and rectified where the metro encounters failures.”
Also read:
Water crisis deepens in Hammanskraal
Hammanskraal pickets for clean water
Lives risked by contaminated water
DA to present findings of water tests to the metro
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