Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has sought to allay fears about tap water quality across the city following complaints from residents in two Durban areas over the contaminated tap water in their areas.
Birchwood Park and nearby Mariannhill residents alleged yesterday that a 38-year-old mother died from severe diarrhoea after allegedly consuming contaminated water.
However, reports yesterday could not confirm that the death of the woman, Rashnie Baijnath, who died en route to hospital on August 10, was linked to contaminated water.
The municipality yesterday admitted that tap water in the Birchwood area did not meet acceptable standards for human consumption. While Mariannhill residents said they were told the water was not safe to drink, the city said Birchwood Park was the only area that was affected.
Birchwood residents said yesterday that while there were water tankers coming to the area, the water supplied was insufficient and there were fears that some would want to use the contaminated water.
Baby Sewpersad, a 60-year-old resident from Birchwood Park, said the water was not fit to even wash dishes.
“The issue started since the floods when we didn’t have water for a while and when it did come back it had a foul smell. My entire family had diarrhoea, my grandson was sick after drinking the water, he had diarrhoea and didn’t go to school for two weeks.”
Saloshni Naicker, 43, from Mariannhill, described the situation in the area as “very bad”, saying the water had been contaminated for quite some time.
“Officials have come and taken samples of water and told us that it is not safe to drink. However, nothing has been done to resolve the situation and this has been going on for months. We have lost hope as residents. There have been so many residents who have had diarrhoea.”
Martin Meyer, DA spokesperson on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), said they would raise the matter with the head of the Water and Sanitation Department.
“We are taking this matter further. Our colleagues from council will get in contact with the head of the Water and Sanitation Department today to ask him why the water is still running and to get feedback on what is the plan to get the situation under control. I will also be writing to the MEC of Cogta and invite him to come and visit the community.
Meyer said he believed that Birchwood’s wastewater pump not being fully functional was the cause of the contaminated water. “We were shocked when we visited there that the wastewater pump is still not functional since the storm. They have a temporary pump system. They have a pipe that looks like a hosepipe. It is supposed to take the system across the river into the water works and that pump has also broken.”
Municipal spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, advised that water testing had revealed that tap water in the Birchwood area did not meet acceptable standards for human consumption.
“The city continuously monitored water quality in the area and tests have revealed that the potable water is no longer of good quality. The municipality is investigating sources of contamination and has so far identified and cleared some pipeline blockages which has reduced the level of contamination.”
Mayisela said the only area affected was Birchwood and not nearby areas.
“In the meantime, the city has dispatched water tankers. For tap water, residents in the area are urged to first boil it for a minute to make it safe for consumption. We want to assure residents that the water in the rest of the city is safe.”