Johannesburg Water has dubbed messages doing the rounds on social media about sewage in its water supply as fake news.

“Johannesburg Water has noted the WhatsApp messages that has been doing the rounds since this morning alleging that water in Coronationville is contaminated with sewer, we can state on record that we haven’t received any formal complaint to this regard, the source of this information cannot be traced and there has been no report of a sewer burst in the area,” the utility noted in a statement on Wednesday.

It added that its laboratory teams were on standby to test the water as soon as the exact location of the contamination could be established or the radio station that reported on the contamination could provide further information.

“The water is the City of Johannesburg is safe to drink and the alleged message is fake news,” Johannesburg Water said.

Water quality concerns in Gauteng

Meanwhile the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has announced that it will be testing the water quality in the 31 drinking water supply systems in Gauteng which affects the Province’s estimated 14.7 million residents and businesses in light of the recent concerns around water quality.

Commenting on the situation Makhosi Khoza, Executive Director for the Outa Local Government division, said Outa was not leaving anything to chance and giving control back to the people by monitoring the drinking water independently.

“By enlisting water experts, OUTA will not only test the water quality but will have a strong enough legal case to take on any local municipality or water services provider who supplies unhealthy water to its residents to ensure healthy water to the people,” he said.