Afriforum finde large traces of bacteria in Springs water
E. coli can cause abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis, vomiting and sometimes fever if ingested.
Afriforum Springs participated in a blue and green drop water quality test during the month of May.
This is a yearly effort on their national calendar and is aimed at determining the quality of the water in Springs.
They test drinking water as well as natural water sources.
The tests consist of nitrates, phosphates and blue and red agar. These provide a good indication of the harmful bacteria in the water.
Afriforum Springs has been testing the quality of water sources since 2014 and the historical results have indicated that the problem is on the increase.
Also see: AfriForum patrolleer Springs
The preliminary test results for 2019 have shown that the Blesbokspruit and the Cowls dams were infected with what could be Escherichia coli or E. coli.
E. coli can cause abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis, vomiting and sometimes fever if ingested.
According to Afriforum, this is nothing new and proves the results of professional tests conducted in late 2018.
Laboratory tests of the Blesbok Nature Reserve and the Edelweiss bridge have shown excessive amounts of E. coli in Blesbokspruit.
“As many Springs residents will remember, we handed a petition over to the municipal management in November 2018, informing them of the problem and asking that they pay attention to the fact that it poses a major health risk to animals and humans alike,” says Cornel Swart, field sales engineer of Gauteng Central.
Swart says: “We have also noticed with the tests that we did from last year and the tests we conducted in May this year that hyacinths have overgrown the Blesbok Nature Reserve.
The reserve has gone from having very little to no hyacinths on the pond at the reserve to being totally overgrown today.”
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