The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in a statement on Monday evening admitted that the latest vigorous routine testing and sampling of water in the distribution system have shown that “certain microbiological limits were exceeded”.
These results, in which the municipality has come to detect failures in water compliance with South African National Standards, came against earlier results in which the municipality certified its water as safe to drink.
“The current drought facing the metropole, with the resultant low dam levels and fluctuating reservoir levels, is one of the major contributing factors in the deterioration in water quality. This then means that, for now, the water coming out of our distribution system could present a risk to human health if ingested,” the NMB municipality said in its statement.
The municipality urges all consumers to boil their water before drinking or cooking, until further notice. The municipality also said it assures residents that it is treating this matter with the utmost urgency and seriousness.
An urgent meeting has been called between the Water Services and Environmental Health departments to develop a turnaround plan.
