Johannesburg - The City of Joburg’s water is of such impeccable quality that any resident does not even need to be drinking bottled water, Environment and Infrastructure Services MMC Mpho Moerane said.
Moerane was visiting the Joburg Water (JW) Cydna Laboratory in Houghton on Thursday as part of the Water Week commemorations as well as for Human Right’s Day.
The laboratory is a hub for quality control regarding water in the city and is a place where water quality tests for potable and effluent water are carried out.
During the tour, Moerane saw first hand how the city’s water is treated and processed and how wastewater is treated to make it potable before being sent back to the mainstream system for consumption, ensuring its world-class quality.
The Joburg Water lab is described as a flagship that has enabled the city’s water entity to remain at the top and ahead of its peers in terms of performance and production of best quality water.
“The city’s water is of such impeccable quality that any Johannesburg resident does not even need to be drinking bottled water because the quality of our water is scientifically proven to be of Blue Drop standard,” Moerane said.
Bottled water contributes to waste, which is problematic for the city’s landfills, as well as plastic being a hazard to the environment globally, hindering their fight to sustain a green environment, the department said.
Moerane said Joburg Water maintained its excellent performance of surpassing the targets on Drinking Water Quality and managed to consistently keep up with the standard of Blue Drop Status requirements for drinking water quality management.
However, in the last two quarters of 2020/2021 there has been a slight decline by 0.2% compared to the previous quarter’s 99.9%.
Moerane assured the public that his department’s water directorate was working with Joburg Water to ensure they continued to make improvements in the coming quarters.
“The current results are, however, still an excellent achievement by Joburg Water, as they exceed their target by 0.7%, registering a 99.7% Drinking Water Quality level for the residents of the municipality.”
The department also reported that Joburg Water is showing consistency with regards to effluent compliance and that there are improvements, with the quarterly overall compliance improving for a third consecutive quarter.
“The effluent compliance of above 95% has been maintained at the two other works as well (Ennerdale and Olifantsvlei) in addition to the Driefontein Works,” Moerane said.
Joburg Water has committed to looking into improving the Grootkoppies plant, which is believed to be lagging behind despite these improvements.
Moerane committed to improvements in the overall performance of all entities under his portfolio, saying that improvements in the EISD and the department is a result of the improved partnerships.
He emphasised that active citizenry was the key to ensuring that the residents of Joburg get world class service from the municipality.