The City of Cape Town would like to advise residents that water in the distribution system is currently discoloured over parts of the eastern, central and southern suburbs, and residents in the affected areas should boil their water before drinking or cooking with it as a precautionary measure while the City investigates and does further testing. Read more below:
The City advises residents that water in the distribution system coming from Faure water treatment plant over parts of the city is currently discoloured. The affected areas are primarily south of the N2 reaching from Strand in the East through Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Philippi to Plumstead and down into the Southern suburbs as far as about Muizenburg. See full list of areas below, as well as an indicative map with affected areas in red.
This is an advisory notice recommending that residents in the affected areas should boil their tap water before drinking it or using it for food preparation and cooking, until further notice.
The fault is due to a process control fault at the Faure Water Treatment Plant, which is the result of cumulative effects of recent phases of load-shedding, which caused limited operational hours of the sludge handling process. This part of the treatment process cannot be augmented by generator capacity due to high energy demand.
The continued sporadic bouts of load-shedding have a detrimental effect on the City’s operations. This is why we are pushing with such urgency to reduce our reliance on Eskom, lower the cost of electricity, and end load-shedding in Cape Town. The City is also continuing to build on its programme of ending load-shedding over time by focusing on energy diversification to enhance security of supply with the City’s own build projects, small-scale embedded generation programmes of buying excess power from qualifying customers, wheeling and independent power producer programmes.
Supply from the Faure water treatment plant has been stopped, and the affected areas of the network are being fed water from Blackheath Reservoir. Intensive water sampling and ongoing testing is being conducted.
The City is working on resolving the problem as soon as possible, and would like to apologise for any inconvenience. The situation is anticipated to normalise the water quality in this part of the supply network, over the next few days.
Residents should do one of the following, until further notice:
• Boil the water for at least one minute, allow it to cool down and store it in clean, sanitised and sealed containers. Or,
• Use household bleach (like Jik) to disinfect water. The World Health Organisation recommends adding 5 millilitres (1 teaspoon) of unperfumed household bleach to 25 litres of water. Let the water stand for at least 30 minutes before using it. Or,
• Use water disinfection tablets. Follow the instructions prescribed by the respective manufacturers to ensure the safety of the water for drinking purposes.
Regular updates will be provided on the City’s Twitter account @CityofCTAlerts and via media releases published on the City’s website www.capetown.gov.za
The affected suburbs are (in alphabetical order): Admirals Park, Airport, Anchorage Park, Antilles/ Cayman Beach, Barnet Molokwana Corner, Beacon Valley, Bell Glen, Bongani, Brandwacht, Broadlands, Broadlands ark, Broadlands Village, Chris Hani park, Colorado Park, Crossroads, Corydon Olive Estate, De Velde, Deaconville, Deepfreeze, Diep River, Dobson, Dreamworld, Driftsands, Eagle Park, Eastridge, Ekhuphumleni, Elfindale, Endlovini, Enkanini, Eyethu, Fairview Golf Estate, False Bay Coastal Park, Firgrove, Firgrove rural, Forest Village, George Park, Goedehoop, Good Hope, Gordon Heights, Gordon’s Bay, Gordon’s Bay Ext 12, Gordon’s Bay Village, Gordon’s Strand Estate, Graceland, Grassy Park, Greenways, Gugulethu, Hanover Park, Harare, Harbour Island, Harmony Village, Heartland, Beach Road Precinct, Heartland Historic Precinct, Heathfield, Helderberg Park, Highlands Village, Hyde Park, Ikwezi Park, Ilitha Park, Khaya, Khayalitsha, Kuyasa, Lakeside, Lansdowne, Lavender Hill, Lentegeur, Lotus River, Macassar, Macassar Beach, Macassar Village, Mall Interchange, Mandela Park, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain CBD, Monwabisi, Morgans Village, Mountainside, Mountainside Estate, Mountainside Ext 2, Muizenberg, Mxolosi Phetani, New Macassar, New Scheme, New Woodlands, Newfields, Nonqubela, Nyanga, Onverwacht – Gordons Bay, Onverwacht – The Strand, Ottery, Parkwood, Peaock Close, Pelikan Heights, Pelikan Park, Philippi, Philippi Park, Pinati Estate, Plumbstead, Portland, Protea Park – Gordon’s Bay, Retreat, Riverside, Rocklands, Rondevlei Park, Sabata Dalindyebo Square, Sand Industria, Sandvlei, Sea Breeze Park, Seawinds, Sercor Park, Silvertown – Khayelitsha, Sitari Country Estate, Smartie Town, Southfield, Southfork, St James, Steenberg, Strand, Strand Golf Club, Strandfontein, Tafelsig, Temporance Town, Thembokwezi, Twin Palms, Umrhabulo Triangle, Victoria Mxenge, Vrygrond, Weltevreden Valley, Westgage, Westridge- Mitchells Plain, Wetton, Wildwood, Wolfgat Nature Reserve, Woodlands and Zeekoevlei.
Source: City Of Cape Town