MMC for Human Settlements Ofentse Madzebatela in New Eersterust, where random spot tests were conducted on water tankers. Picture: Supplied
Pretoria - In a bid to ensure that water provided to informal settlements is clean and drinkable, the City of Tshwane dispatched its microbiologists to New Eersterust in Region 2, where they conducted tests on water tankers.
MMC for Human Settlements Ofentse Madzebatela, who accompanied the team, said the City’s microbiologists conducted random spot tests on the water carried through five water tankers in New Eersterust on Monday.
“These tankers deliver water to the areas of Spin City, Trust Farm, Phophola, Phomolong, Hammanskraal Ext 2, Kanana, Nkandla, Chris Hani Block G, Kudube unit 10, Hammanskraal Portion 9, New Eersterust Ext 8, Marikana and Soutpan,” he said.
The microbiology tests were meant to check for foreign elements such as ammonia phosphate, nitrates, including the pH levels of the water, among other things.
Madzebatela said: “The City remains committed to ensuring that the water provided to our residents through mobile water tankers is consumable and up to the required standards.”
He said the City would continue to do random spot tests on the water carried by mobile water tankers to informal settlements, in particular in region 2, which include Rooiwal and Hammanskraal.
In May this year, residents in Hammanskraal experienced a cholera outbreak, resulting in more than 20 fatalities.
For more than a decade, the problem of dirty water supplied to Hammanskraal residents has been attributed to lack of capacity of Rooiwal plant to purify wastewater, resulting in the sludge being discharged into the Apies River.
The Apies River in turn supplied water to Temba water treatment plant, used for purifying water for the Hammanskraal residents.
Madzebatela said the City provides rudimentary water services through 278 mobile water tankers in identified informal settlements spread across the seven regions.
“There are 293 527 households that benefit from this service,” he said, adding that the provision of clean and quality water will remain a priority of the multiparty government.
Pretoria News