Water testing lab open to working with eThekwini to resolve E coli discrepancies

Independent water testing firm Talbot Laboratories is open to running concurrent samplings with the eThekwini municipality after recent discrepancies in E coli results.

Since February 2022, Talbot, with NPO Adopt a River, has facilitated weekly water sampling at different beaches.

Earlier this week the company published beach water quality results from last week that showed six Durban beaches had excessive amounts of E coli.

At an eThekwini executive committee meeting on Tuesday, Dr Musa Mbhele, community and emergency services deputy city manager, said his department's results, from “stringent sampling and testing procedures” in the same week, showed the beaches were safe for swimming.

The city then invited Talbot to perform simultaneous water samples with it to assure the public the results released were transparent and verified by both institutions.

Micole Martens, associate director at Talbot Laboratories, said the company was open to working with the city if invited to do so.

“Talbot has not been officially informed of the invitation from the city to conduct concurrent water samples. We are hopeful that we will receive the invitation and are eager to participate in the concurrent testing opportunity.”

This would not be the first time the two had worked together.

In December 2022 the municipality and Talbot embarked a joint testing venture after the April 2022 floods.

On Wednesday, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, the eThekwini municipality's communications head, said: “Talbot has an open, standing invitation to sample together with us so that we can compare apples with apples. For reasons known only to them, they prefer not to use this option. As a lab, they know well that results can only be comparable if we test together.”

Martens said Talbot understood that collaboration to be for the December to January period.

“In December 2022 the municipality engaged Talbot for independent water-quality sampling during the festive period from mid-December to January 1. Talbot arranged for sampling to occur twice a day, every day, and provided real-time results to eThekwini. However, I am not certain how or if these results were shared by eThekwini.

“All testing requested by the municipality ceased on January 1.”

Martens said possible reasons for the contradictory results could be due to differences in testing methodologies, sample handling and storage during transportation, precise sampling locations, testing times and natural elements such as rainfall, tides and other environmental factors.

“To address these discrepancies and achieve more consistent results, close collaboration between Talbot and the eThekwini municipality is crucial. Standardising methodologies, sharing data regularly and engaging in discussions are essential steps towards better understanding and addressing factors affecting water-quality testing outcomes.”

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