GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Water supply systems in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM) are in a critical state. This was confirmed during the recent release of the 2023 Blue Drop Report by the Department of Water and Sanitation.
The report indicates that the DBNLM achieved an average score of 24,2%, with water supply systems in Aberdeen, Graaff-Reinet, Jansenville, Klipplaat, Nieu-Bethesda, Rietbron, Steytlerville, Waterford, Willowmore and Wolwefontein achieving less than the required 31% Blue Drop target.
The Blue Drop Report provides an assessment of the quality of drinking water.
Water supply systems failing to achieve the minimum Blue Drop target of 31% are placed under regulatory surveillance in accordance with the Water Services Act (108 0f 1997).
The status of a water supply systemis determined by considering six factors including the condition of the infrastructure, whether the required maintenance is being done and whether the infrastructure is operated correctly.
Blue Drop risk rating analysis
The Blue Drop risk rating analysis determines the risk across an entire water supply network in a water service authority against five indicators – design capacity, operational capacity, water quality compliance, technical capacity, and water safety plans.
This analysis indicates that the average Blue Drop risk rating of the DBNLM is at 47,6% with the Jansenville water treatment system in high-risk position (70% - <90%) and the Waterford water treatment system in critical risk position (90% - 100%).
This means that some or all the risk indicators in Jansenville and Waterford are in a precarious state and pose a serious risk to public health. The DBNLM will therefore be required to assess the risk contributors and correct the shortcomings.
Drinking water quality
The main objective of a water treatment plant is to produce final water quality that is safe for human consumption.
This standard can only be achieved if operational and compliance monitoring are properly executed.
Operational monitoring
The operational monitoring of a water treatment works, and the compliance monitoring of a water supply system are informed by the South African National Standard (Sans) and the requirement for risk-informed monitoring through the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Programme (WaSP) process.
SANS 241 is a drinking water specification that states the minimum requirements for drinking water to be considered safe for human consumption.
WaSP assists users in interpreting and predicting how water quality would respond to natural phenomena and manmade pollution and, based on this, make various pollution management decisions.
To give weight to the importance of sampling and monitoring of raw water, process unit water, and final water across the treatment stream, a minimum level of 90% is applied.
The Blue Drop report indicates that the operational monitoring status of the 11 water treatment works and the compliance monitoring of the 10 water supply systems in the DBNLM do not comply with this.
Drinking water quality compliance monitoring
Drinking water quality compliance monitoring is also informed by the mandatory limits set by SANS and calculated against the population size.
Based on the results for the 10 water supply systems in the DBNLM, the microbiological performance statuses of four are excellent and six are unacceptable.
The unacceptable water poses a serious acute health risk to the community. In addition, the chemical acute health performance statuses of the 10 systems are unacceptable, while the chronic health performance statuses of eight are excellent and two are unacceptable.
In terms of the Water Services Act, all water service authorities must issue advisory notices to the public when there are significant drinking water failures.
The notices are meant to warn the public and advise them to make use of alternative water sources or methods to disinfect water for drinking. Penalties are applied for the failure to issue these notices.
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