Witbank water warning

Two hotels in the coal-mining town of Witbank are advising their guests not to use tap water because of its metal and faecal contamination.

Both the Protea Hotel in Jellicoe Street on the outskirts of Witbank and Protea Highveld Hotel in the town's centre have put up notices reading: "Due to the state of Emalahleni's water, it is recommended you do not drink the water from the taps in the hotel or anywhere in the city. Enjoy your stay!"

According to Protea Hotels MD Derick Tait, the hotel chain put up the notices after it carried out tests on the water and found it was "not safe to drink".

"We've got a system [with which] we bottle municipal water in-house to replace the mineral water so that we can be more environmentally friendly. Because of the problems we had in the past, we asked [a private consultant] to test the water," said Tait.

The results showed that the water was highly acidic, with a pH of 2.

The results also showed an acid mine water influx and a heavy metal content, including high levels of copper and iron presence . The water also had a high faecal count.

Tait said if one poured water in a jug, it would have a definite "yellow colour".

The Emalahleni municipality, under which Witbank falls, was placed under administration in April after it failed to deliver basic services amid allegations of corruption.

Administrator Theo van Vuuren said the municipality had taken several steps to bring the situation back to normal. These interventions included implementing proper maintenance measures, which resulted in the water purification plant becoming fully operational again.

"In my opinion, the warning notices displayed by the hotels [are] unasked for and somewhat exaggerated," said Van Vuuren.

He said though the situation had improved "dramatically" over the past five months, pipe bursts and electrical failures left certainareas without water. Dirt that got into the pipes during repairs also affected water quality.

The town, which has a population of 311657, has a history of unsafe water.

Raw sewage often flows into the Witbank Dam, from which the town has been receiving its water from 2011.

Julius Kleynhans, head of environmental affairs at Afriforum, an Afrikaner lobby group, said yesterday it was the mixture of both raw sewage and acid mine drainage that "is busy damaging the Olifants River ".