WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-20 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Eleanor Momberg
Scares about the drinking water in Johannesburg being unsafe because of sewage spills caused by power cuts are unfounded.
That was the word from Johannesburg Water and the Gauteng health department as they continue their investigations into the causes of the outbreak of cholera at the Chicken Farm informal settlement in Kliptown, Soweto, and the discovery of E.coli bacteria in the tap water in some northwest Johannesburg suburbs on Friday.
Zanele Mngadi, the Gauteng health department’s spokesperson, said an urgent investigation was under way to establish the source of the cholera cases in Soweto, which were diagnosed nearly two weeks ago.
| ‘The raw water in the Vaal Dam is of a good quality.’ |
She said water samples had been taken but no cholera had been found. She would not speculate as to what might have caused the outbreak of the disease, which is spread by contaminated food and water, and by unwashed hands.
On Friday afternoon, Johannesburg Water declared that the drinking water in Linden, Cresta, Northcliff, Fairlands, Blairgowrie and surrounding areas was safe – after warning residents that morning that it was not.
A Johannesburg Water official confirmed that E.coli had been found in the water during routine sampling on Thursday. But, after more tests on Friday, it was declared safe.
“We are ensuring that the million litres of waste water generated daily are treated to the high standards demanded by the department of water affairs and forestry, which are in line with global best practices,” a spokesman for the utility said.
Rand Water, which supplies water to local authorities in Gauteng for distribution to residents and businesses, denied that the quality of the water from the Vaal Dam was compromised.
| Load shedding by Eskom had had no effect on the quality of the water supplied by Rand Water |
Gregg Mulzack, Rand Water’s spokesperson, said the utility took all its water from the Vaal Dam, upstream of the Vaal River barrage.
“The raw water in the Vaal Dam is of a good quality. Stringent guidelines are in place to ensure that Rand Water consistently produces drinking water of an exceptionally high quality that meets all national water-quality standards. [Adherence to] these guidelines is confirmed monthly by an independent, accredited laboratory,” he said.
He said that load shedding by Eskom had had no effect on the quality of the water supplied by Rand Water. He said that, as an essential-service provider, Rand Water had been exempted from Eskom load shedding.
Rand Water’s weekly report on the suitability of the water in the Vaal Barrage Reservoir for water sports this week showed that a person entering the river feeding the Vaal Dam at Loch Vaal, or at Vaalview Aquatic Club or Village Manor – all near the barrage – faced a high risk of contracting skin, ear, nose or throat infections because of the high levels of faecal coliforms and other micro-organisms in the water.
The latest report posted on the internet by Rand Water shows high levels of E.coli, ammonia, nitrates, phosphates and sulphates in rivers and streams linked to the Vaal catchment area.
Water in the Grootdraai Dam catchment area, particularly near the Bethal and Ermelo sewage works, contained high levels of E.coli contamination, the report said.
In the Vaal Dam catchment area, high levels of faecal coliforms were measured at the Vaal Dam intake, at the confluence of the Vaal and Wilge rivers, in the Wilge River downstream of Oranjeville, at Frankfort and at the Standerton sewage works, and in the Vaal River upstream of Vaal Marine and at Villiers.
Similar conditions were found in the Waterval River catchment area around Secunda, Elandslaagte, Roodbank and Evander, as well as at the Embahlenhle and Secunda sewage works.
A senior department of water affairs official said reports of sewage spills caused by sewage pumps being stopped by Eskom power cuts were exaggerated and that the leaks were “minimal”.
In October, more than 200-million litres of raw sewage spilled into the Apies, Hennops and Pienaars rivers in Pretoria. The spill was blamed on Eskom load shedding disrupting the operation of a sewage works.
At the time, Tshwane officials said it would take up to three weeks to restore the water-treatment system and warned that the water in the three rivers was not safe to use.
But this week Tshwane denied that there had been sewage spills, saying they “cannot occur when there is a power failure”.
A senior water affairs official said there had been sewage leaks, but that they had been “very minor in scale”.
“They were so minor it is insignificant. It is not alarming. We are collaborating with Eskom to try to find ways of ensuring that spillages and other problems are limited when load shedding takes place.”
But, the official added: “If there are unscheduled power cuts, then it becomes a problem because the sewage overflows. When that happens, it places enormous pressure on our engineering people.”
In contrast, Cape Town announced that it had introduced safeguards to reduce the risk of sewage spills resulting from non-functioning sewage pumps.
“[The risk of spills] has been reduced by the introduction of new telemetry systems and by upgrading maintenance schedules,” said Sipho Mosai, the city’s director of water services.
“The city has contingency plans for future load-shedding and the wet winter. These include the installation of back-up generators for strategic sewage treatment plants, as well as co-operation with the city’s electricity department to plan power cuts in such a way that sewage flows can be managed and spillages minimised.”