Residents complain of strange taste and odour in BCM water

Something is off in East London ’ s water.

Residents and ward councillors have noticed a funny taste in Buffalo City Metro s tap water in recent weeks. Some say the water also has a strange smell.

One Cambridge pensioner thought the water tasted like bleach.

“It s been like this since last week Tuesday. I've had to boil water and I'm a person who drinks a lot of water,” she said.

The pensioner said she could not afford to buy bottled water. The tap water had given her stomach cramps.

Quigney resident Satish Nair said his water also had a bad odour.

Buffalo Flats resident Daveda Marais said areas such as the East Bank had experienced the same poor quality water for more than a week.

“There has been no notification from Buffalo City water as to why we are experiencing this.

“Community members have been informed to boil and buy water but not all are privileged to be able to do so,” Marais said.

Marais said she had voiced the community's concern on a Facebook page, Water Shedding BCM.

ANC councillor Pindile Miza said he had received a complaint on Monday and would follow up with the municipality.

DA councillor Tessa Botha said she had noticed the water was tainted and had a foul smell.

"People have been complaining “on my WhatsApp group chat about the water. I ve also seen complaints on social media,” she said.

“We asked the councillor for infrastructure for clarity, but none of the officials got back to us,” Botha said.

Buffalo Flats, Cambridge, Nahoon Valley Park, Braelyn, Amalinda, Beacon Bay, Southernwood and Blue Bend are just some of the areas that seem to have issues with their water.

A Dispatch team performed a taste test on water in Beacon Bay, and found it to have a metallic taste with a sharp smell. The water was clear, however.

Another DA councillor, Marion Mackley, said: It seems to be right across the entire metro. I advised residents to boil water for drinking purposes.”

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: We ve noted the complaints about the taste and smell of the water in some parts of East London. This may be due to the seasonal algae bloom in the dams.

However, we can assure the “public that the water is safe to drink as per the microbiological tests, which are done weekly on potable water.”

He said no gastrointestinal infections or stomach pains could be associated with the taste and odour of water. We have reacted to this by “increasing the dosage of powder activated carbon, which deals with taste and odour, as from the past weekend,” he said.

Ngwenya said affected consumers could make reports to the municipality s call centre on 043-705-9234/5.