Home News ‘Quality’ water being distributed to city communities

‘Quality’ water being distributed to city communities

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Several community members who have benefited from the provision of water, said they were very happy to have been provided with clean water.

THE GALESHEWE Circle has become the assembly point for water tankers every morning before the trucks carrying water are taken out to various communities, as well as to fill up JoJo tanks.

The operation is in line with the directive to the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) from the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, for the distribution of quality water to communities.

The truck drivers are quality experts who have been deployed from Rand Water to the Northern Cape to assist local expertise in ensuring adherence to water quality.

The media liaison director for the national Department of Water and Sanitation, Sputnik Ratau, said that Water Service Authorities in the country were tasked with ensuring that water is provided to rural and informal settlements.

“This will be done through tankers and tanks of reliable quality in order to ensure the delivery of this critical resource,” stated Ratau.

He indicated that Rand Water was tasked to provide the National Command Centre with daily reports on the quality of tankers and storage tanks that provide water to various communities across the country.

The DWS Northern Cape provincial head, Kobus Streuders, said the Province was adhering to the Water Services Act of 1997 which dictates that it is compulsory for Water Service Authorities (WSAs) to adhere and comply with national standards.

“In the case of water tankers and tanks, samples of water must be taken  from each tanker and tank to ensure that the water is fit for human consumption before it is distributed,” said Streuders.

“It must be analysed for compliance against disinfectant residuals, turbidity, E. coli, heterotrophic plate count, treatment chemicals, conductivity and Ph within 24 hours.”

Several community members who have benefited from the provision of water, said they were very happy to have been provided with clean water.

One of the only complaints received from locals was the fact that the tanks were placed flat on the ground and not on stands, which would have made it easier to tap the water into a bucket. Residents pointed out that this meant that they had to dig holes next to the taps or attach hose pipes to draw water from the tanks.

A resident from Scandal, one of the new informal settlements in the city, said the provision of the JoJo tanks was a great relief.

“We did not have water before the lockdown period and at least we now have water. We are satisfied with the water quality so far,” the resident said.

The provincial spokesperson for the DWS, Amogelang Moholoeng, said they had noted the concerns raised by community members and the department was in the process of addressing them.

“We are in the process of addressing the issue regarding the positioning of the JoJo tanks. This was due to the limited time frame that we had to provide the various communities with water.

“We should all take into consideration that no one expected the lockdown to be extended. The tanks were initially only meant as a temporary arrangement,” said Moholoeng.

He said the department was looking at options to minimise the challenges and to make the communities’ lives easier in terms of accessing the water from the JoJo tanks.

“We are looking at building permanent bases, or setting up more steel tanks or escalating the taps on the JoJos slightly,” Moholoeng said.

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