The City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Department has apologised to customers after water with a poor taste and odour was delivered to residents along the Atlantic Seaboard last week.

The Atlantic Seaboard receives its water from the Kloof Nek Water Treatment Plant which started up again last week after being shut down due to the taste and odour in the water. This was caused by the vegetation in the river on Table Mountain.

The taste and odour matter has been addressed with the introduction of an additional treatment process, but slightly raised turbidity levels were experienced for a short period after the start-up. This was quickly corrected, but a small volume of discoloured water did pass into the distribution system. The matter was rectified and the water colour has normalised.

The Water and Sanitation Department has reassure consumers that the drinking water is safe and poses no health risk. Slightly discoloured water is still within the South African National Standard for Drinking Water (SANS 241-1: 2015).