The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has disputed allegations that the water supply in Tembisa is poisonous.

According to municipal spokesperson Themba Gadebe the allegations made with regards to the water supply in Tembisa are regarded as intended to cause unwanted panic among residents who, in any case, are not expected to collect water from an open water source such as the Kaalspruit stream for domestic or agricultural use.

He says this is because citizens of the Metro, including those residing in informal settlements, have been provided with access to clean water from the tap.

“To build citizen confidence on the quality of drinking water management at municipalities the National Department of Water Affairs annually launches a South African Water Quality Incentive based Regulation Assessment (Blue Drop Certification),” explains Gadebe.

“To obtain Blue Drop Certification a municipality must score 95% on a range of criteria which includes Drinking Water Quality compliance.”

Gadebe says since the launching of this initiative in September 2008 Ekurhuleni has consistently achieved Blue Drop Status and during 2012 achieved the highest score (98.95%) of all municipalities in South Africa and was awarded Platinum Blue Drop status.

“Continuous daily and monthly testing is done throughout the year by a qualified and dedicated team to ensure the tap water in Ekurhuleni is safe to drink at all times and complies with the South African National Standard for microbiological, physical, aesthetic and chemical determinants for drinking water as published by the SANS Standards Division,” he says.

“Any allegations or uncertainties of similar nature can be reported to the municipality’s Water Quality staff for further investigation,” concludes Gadebe.