Water issues hit Komani businesses
KOMANI residents and businesses have had to deal with water supply disruptions and cuts since 2016, on top of the water often being murky and foul-smelling.
As a result, residents and business owners are concerned about the possible health hazard the water might pose.
However, the Chris Hani District Municipality, which is responsible for supplying water in the area, yesterday allayed residents’ fears, saying the water was safe for human consumption as it was tested on a regular basis.
While the disruption in the water supply started in 2016, residents claim the situation worsened in January, as the municipality did not stick to its restriction schedule.
Border Kei Chamber of Business chairwoman Adre Bartis said the water restrictions were negatively affecting businesses.
“The municipality is not following the schedule that it issued and we have local BnBs which are losing a lot of money due to the water cuts.
“People are complaining the water is smelly and they have to boil it before they use it. We have been trying to get an explanation from the district municipality but they avoid us,” she said.
Mlungisi resident Mbuyiseli Ngaleka said the inconsistent water restrictions worsened in January.
Chris Hani district municipality spokesman Thobeka Mqamelo said residents would be informed when there was a change in the wa- ter restriction schedule.
“We still cut water from 8pm to 5am daily, unless there is maintenance work taking place in a particular pipeline resulting in water interruptions. Most of the times water is not available in specific highlying areas because of high usage which affects the reservoir level and thus low pressure,” said Mqamelo.
She assured residents the water was safe for human consumption.
“Operational monitoring of water quality is done on a two-hourly basis to ensure quality of water channelled to households. Samples are also taken from the reticulation on a weekly basis and sent to an external independent laboratory. Our environmental health practitioners also conduct compliance monitoring once a month,” she said.
“Komani town uses only one purification plant for its drinking water supply and water quality is the same in all households. We can assure the community that water quality in Komani is fit for consumption,” Mqamelo said.
She stressed that whenever water was distributed after being cut off for some time, residue from the pipeline was picked up, resulting in a tinted look “but this does not necessarily mean that water is not fit for human consumption”.
The recent rains did not make any significant improvement in the water level of Bonkolo Dam, which is at about 10%, while the Waterdown Dam was at 72.5% this week.