Safe drinking water still a dream in rural areas of South Africa. Case Study: The Eastern Cape Province

Abstract

From October to November 2004, and from July to September 2005, a survey of 55 plants was conducted in five District Municipalities (Cacadu, Chris Hani, Amathola, Ukhahlamba and O.R. Tambo) of the Eastern Cape Province, with the aim of examining the disinfection practices used in small rural systems of the Eastern Cape and their effect on the quality of drinking water they supply to the communities. Eighty six percent of the visited plants were treating surface water while 7% were treating groundwater and another 7% were treating both ground-and surface water. The majority of plants surveyed employed some variation of conventional treatment (coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration, chlorination). Turbidity values in 55% of the plants were within the acceptable SABS limits while the other 45% showed high values. Out of the 55 surveyed plants only 18% complied with the SABS recommended limits in terms of microbiological quality.

Authors

Categories