BCM has said that it wanted to assure residents that the municipal water was indeed safe to drink.
In a statement published on their Facebook page on Monday May 31, BCM said they had released the samples of the latest water quality test in order to encourage user confidence.
“The City has noticed that private establishments are selling filtered water under the pretence that municipal water is unsafe to drink. This is far from the truth,” BCM said.
The municipality said that water quality was regularly tested to ensure its safety.
“Buffalo City Water was confirmed to be amongst the best quality water in the province by Blue Drop in the past, and this has not changed.
“In the country, the BCM was deemed to be amongst the top water services providers, in terms of quality drinking water.”
The Blue Drop programme was implemented by the department of water and sanitation in 2015 to encourage progress towards improving water quality across the country.
BCM said they adhered to regular water quality checks and that results were tabled on a quarterly basis in Council. The latest results were tabled on Wednesday.
“Daily and weekly samples are collected from all 10 BCM supply schemes to monitor the ongoing suitability of the water for drinking purposes.”
In March, according to BCM, 83 sample sites were analysed and the report indicated 98.3% microbiological compliance, >99.9% acute health compliance, 99.5% chronic health compliance and 98.1% non-health aesthetic compliance. This isn’t the first time concerns have been raised.
As reported by the GO! & Express last year (‘BCM addresses foul-smelling water’, November 15 2020), residents reported that their tap water gave off an unpleasant odour and had a metallic taste. BCM had blamed an algal bloom in Bridle Drift Dam which was addressed shortly afterwards.
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