Makana's water is fit for human consumption. That's the good news from the latest drinking water quality results, presented in a report brought to the infrastructural committee this month which prompted praise, but also questions as to why two key components, pH and odour, had not been not tested.
Makana's water is fit for human consumption. That's the good news from the latest drinking water quality results, presented in a report brought to the infrastructural committee this month which prompted praise, but also questions as to why two key components, pH and odour, had not been not tested.
While the drinking water quality results for the period of July and August were found to be compliant with the Department of Water Affairs' South African National Standards (SANS), Councillor Brian Fargher pointed out that pH and odour had not been tested.
"I encourage the director to ensure that we get these results. We are missing two key components," Fargher said. He said other parameters, including colour, electrical conductivity, taste and total dissolved solids (turbidity) had also not been tested.
The report stated that results not displayed implied that either those parameters had not been monitored for the report, or they had not been entered by the time the automatic summary report was generated. Councillor Pierre Ranchhod, on the other hand, praised the work of the infrastructure department, comparing current results with their previous performance.
The municipality had achieved an "acceptable" score of 55% in 2011, compared to 28% in 2010 in the Blue Drop Certification, a measure by which the Department of Water Affairs judges the quality of drinking water.
The report also noted that they were still waiting for clarity from Department of Water Affairs regarding aluminium content. The municipality conducts monthly sampling from areas around Makana which are is tested by the Amatola Water Board.
The report is generated automatically on a monthly basis and is based on data loaded on to the electronic water quality management system. This provides a summary of information on key water quality results.
