Rand Water cautions residents on home water treatments

According to them, home water treatment devices provide no benefit to consumers, as the water supplied by Rand Water undergoes a rigorous purification process before distribution to its customers.

“Traders use ambiguous statements to market home-based water treatment devices such as domestic water filters for ‘health reasons’,” said Justice Mohale, spokesperson for Rand Water.

“These statements often mislead consumers into purchasing water treatment devices that provide no benefits. In some cases, traders promote sale of water treatment devices by demonstrating how the colour of tap water changes into an undesirable state, and then show how their water treatment filters can correct this.

“This leads to consumers believing the tap water contains harmful particles. The colour change is due to naturally occurring minerals in drinking water, such as calcium, potassium and sulfate, which the human body requires.”

Rand Water cautioned that if home-based water treatment devices are not maintained it may cause the quality of the water to deteriorate.

“Rand Water would like to reiterate that it supplies water that is safe for human consumption and consumers do not need to test the water in their households. The organisation and its customers (municipalities) maintain an extensive water quality monitoring programme to assure consumers of safe and healthy water.”