Scientists check if eThekwini’s tap water is safe to drink

Amid the cholera outbreak in several provinces and eThekwini's water and sanitation infrastructural challenges, scientists have conducted independent tests on drinking water in greater Durban to test how safe it is.

A team from the Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology (IWWT) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) have sampled and tested water from several areas within the municipality's jurisdiction.

“Based on the empirical evidence using standard methods for microbiological water quality testing, I am of the opinion that the areas we have tested which received piped water at the time of sampling, it is safe to drink the water,” Prof Faizal Bux, IWWT's director, told TimesLIVE Premium on Tuesday.

He said the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal did not directly prompt them to sample Durban tap water, “although based justifiably on public anxiety currently on the outbreak, it will help to ease the Durban public concerns”.

“We have been testing tap water in the metro routinely over the last six months to ensure that the water meets SANS 241 microbiological potable water quality guidelines.”

SANS 241 stipulates the minimum requirements for potable water to be considered safe for human consumption.

Bux said samples tested in February and June, “satisfied microbiological water quality guidelines for drinking water”.

He said as part of its routine monitoring programme, the institute tests tap water about every two months within the boundaries of the eThekwini municipality from Winklespruit in the south to Tongaat in the north and Pinetown in the west. 

“In total we collected approximately 19 samples last week which include informal settlements, townships and suburbs. 

“At the time of sampling these areas received uninterrupted water supply. During these precarious times with constant challenges in our water and sanitation infrastructure keeping the public informed on water quality is part of the mandate of the Institute and entrenched in the DUT Envision 2030 statement of intent of contributing to improved lived and livelihoods.

“He said the 18 samples tested in June were obtained from taps in houses while one sample was secured from standpipes located at the expansive Kennedy Road informal settlement in Clare Estate.

“During the February 2023 sampling the sample obtained from Tongaat was water provided from a water tanker due to tap water challenges at that time.”

Bux conceded the institute did not have the resources to test all rivers in Durban.

“These exercises are resource intensive and testing river water quality is the responsibility of the regulatory authorities, including municipality and relevant government departments.

“However, since we were involved in beach water quality analysis for E. coli recently which was reported in the media, we did test the Umgeni river mouth and impact thereof on the beach water quality along the coastline of Durban.”

DUT spokesperson Alan Khan said the IWWT has reiterated “that these findings were in the interest of public safety and confirmed that the water analysis and sampling was not commissioned by any individual, organisation or entity, be it private, public or governmental”.