Durban — The eThekwini Municipality has announced that the water supply in Clare Estate is safe for consumption.
The municipality said that it noted false claims that tap water in some parts of Clare Estate is contaminated and that the municipality failed to take corrective measures. These claims are false and misleading, it said.
“The municipality assures residents that results of tap water samples taken on 6 and 7 April in O’Flattery Road, Clare Estate were compliant with potable water standards as per the South African National Standard 241 for drinking water,” the municipality said.
The municipality said that the false narrative emanates from the City’s Water and Sanitation team repairing a burst water main last month. Water pipelines were isolated during the repairs.
“Unfortunately, during the repairs, a TLB accidentally damaged both the water and sewer pipeline,” the municipality said.
It said that following the incident, the City took samples to assess the possibility of water being compromised.
“The first batch of results indicated that the sample did not comply, and teams immediately flushed out and disinfected the line to ensure compromised water was removed from the network and would not reach the taps of residents. More samples were taken while repairs were being undertaken and further flushing of water pipelines was done to clear the supply of any contamination.
“The repairs on the damaged pipes have been completed and further tests were done to ascertain water quality. These tests have shown that water is safe to drink,” the municipality said.
The municipality called on community leaders to desist from spreading unverified information and causing unnecessary panic.
On Tuesday, the Daily News reported that panic-stricken Clare Estate residents have had their water supply normalised after it was contaminated briefly with sewage because of pipe damage on Saturday.
eThekwini Municipality ward 23 councillor Alicia Kissoon said community leaders in Clare Estate had reported an increasing number of residents becoming ill after drinking tap water. She said the incident occurred while repairs were being undertaken to the water infrastructure in the area, and the freshwater pipeline became exposed to a sewage overflow.
Kissoon said notwithstanding the seriousness of the situation, the municipality failed to inform the community of the potential hazards. Instead, they continued to downplay the situation and insisted that the water quality was suitable for human consumption.
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Daily News