Drinking Nelson Mandela Bay’s water ‘could present risk to human health’

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipal water supply may be unsafe for consumption, and city officials have warned residents to boil their water before drinking or cooking until further notice.

Vice chancellor Prof Sizwe Mabizela has expressed serious concern over the water outages and the negative impact on students, staff, visitors and the academic programme. File photo.
Vice chancellor Prof Sizwe Mabizela has expressed serious concern over the water outages and the negative impact on students, staff, visitors and the academic programme. File photo. (123RF/Weerapat Kiatdumrong/ File photo)

The Nelson Mandela Bay municipal water supply may be unsafe for consumption, and city officials have warned residents to boil their water before drinking or cooking until further notice.

In a statement released on Monday night, the municipality said its latest water quality test results revealed that water quality had deteriorated and certain microbiological limits were exceeded.

“It is through this process that the municipality has come to detect failures in water compliance with SANS standards,” the statement read.

“This means that, for now, the water coming out of our distribution system could present a risk to human health if ingested.”

The drop in water quality was attributed to low dam levels and fluctuating reservoir levels in recent weeks.

The municipality assured residents that the matter was receiving urgent attention and that an emergency meeting had been called with the water services and the environmental health departments to develop a turnaround strategy.

It said the public would be informed by Tuesday of plans that had been put in place to ensure the safety of the city’s water distribution system.

HeraldLIVE

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Comment icon

Related Articles