Cape Town – The city has assured residents that water remains safe to drink, as dam levels continue to fall.
Dam levels have declined to 27.3% – 1.3% down from a week ago.
With the last 10% of a dam’s water mostly not being useable, dam levels are effectively at about 17.3 %, with approximately 103 days of useable water left at current consumption levels.
Consumption over the past week has encouragingly reached 725 million litres per day, which is 25 million litres above the collective usage target of 700 million litres per day, the city says.
With declining dam levels, water quality enquiries from members of the public are increasing, the city said in a statement.
The city has however assured residents that the water quality remains safe to drink and is closely monitored via a large number of water samples analysed according to the stringent South African National Standards (SANS 241: 2015) requirements.
“We are currently experiencing high levels of geosmin in the water drawn from the Theewaterskloof Dam. Geosmin is a naturally occurring organic compound which has an earthy flavour and aroma and which is sometimes present in water,” the statement reads.
The city is currently increasing powdered activated carbon dosing during the water treatment process in an attempt to deal with geosmin.
It may take some time for the taste and smell of the water to normalise over a large area of the central and southern suburbs of Cape Town.
Mayco member for informal settlements, water and waste services; and energy Xanthea Limberg said it must be emphasised that geosmin poses no threat to human health.
“Even minute concentrations can be detected by the incredibly sensitive human palate. Customers should note that water pressure may be reduced to limit water leaks and that slight changes in water taste and clarity may occur due to low dam levels, but this does not affect quality,” Limberg said.
She also warned residents against falling victim to many water-related hoaxes which are causing unnecessary panic.
“One hoax, which is being repeated every so often, warns that water will be cut off across the whole metro on specified dates. Such blanket cut-offs are not done. Residents must not fall for this type of panic-mongering,” Limberg said.
Residents can contact the city via email to [email protected] for queries or to report contraventions (evidence should be provided to assist the city’s enforcement efforts) or they can send an SMS to 31373.
For further information, residents can visit the water restrictions page on the city’s website: www.capetown.gov.za/thinkwater