The Mookgophong Municipality in Limpopo has denied that drinking water in the area is unsafe, after the Blue Drop Certification Programme report gave them a very low rating.

Speaking to News24 spokesperson Naphthaly Tlhoaela said that drinking water was safe for human consumption, because the municipality had conducted monthly tests to verify the quality of the water coming from the dams.

Tlhoaela said the report from the Blue Drop Certification Programme was from 2014, and was only released in December 2015.

The municipality was still waiting for the Department of Water and Sanitation to start the 2015 assessments, which normally started in August, he said.

The Blue Drop Certification Programme report for 2014 revealed that some water service authorities and water service providers were supplying “low quality water”.

Urgent interventions needed

In the report, the Mookgophong municipality scored the lowest, with 26%, followed by the Vhembe district municipality at 39%.

A percentage lower than 33% on the Blue Drop performance rating indicated that urgent intervention was required to ensure drastic improvement, to the point where the public and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry could have confidence in the manner water quality was being managed.

“Till now we have appointed new officials that are more than capable to ensure that the water is drinkable for our people,” Tlhoaela said.

The Blue Drop Certification Programme was a legislative requirement to ensure that suitable monitoring programmes were in place to monitor water quality.

Tlhoaela said, although some residents in Mookgophong had expressed concern over the quality of drinking water, there was no reason for it.

–News24Wire (Iavan Pijoos, News24)