Possible poor water quality notice
The municipal and external water laboratories shall closely monitor the situation till the situation is normal
Kindly be informed that due to recent floods the municipal feed water quality from the dams has deteriorated significantly.
Water quality at the dam has worsened approximately 32 times the usual quality resulting on the inefficiency of the treatment system to deal with such quality.
The feed water is too high on turbidity (160 – 270 NTU instead of the usual 5NTU), high organic content and very high concentration of manganese (1500ug/l instead of the usual 80ug/l) thus compromising quality of the product.
The affected plants are Witbank and Rietspruit Water Purification Plants.
The municipality has managed to urgently source suitable chemicals (coagulant) to deal with high turbidity and organic content and necessary adjustments have been conducted at the plant to remedy the situation and most physical determinants are currently complying.
It is envisaged that the plant such be able to produce good and compliant water quality before in the next 2 to 3 days, as water in the system will have to drain out completely.
The municipal and external water laboratories shall closely monitor the situation till the situation is normal.
The public is advised to exercise caution when using water and report abnormalities.
Emalahleni Local Municipality Communications Unit
