Today, 19 April 2012 the Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi met with City of Johannesburg and Johannesburg Water to discuss the Diepsloot drinking water situation. The department views this situation, which has the potential to threaten the livelihood and health of the Diepsloot community, as dire and as a high priority, hence the meeting to discuss and evaluate the cause, the current status, the rectification process and prevention plans.
“It can be confirmed that the situation in Diepsloot is being addressed well, within the water safety planning process and incident management protocol, which is a key Blue Drop requirement. As the regulatory authority of the sector, the Department is satisfied that regulatory requirements are met and that adequate processes are in place to ensure that safe water supply is restored as soon as possible”, said Mabudafhasi.
The rectification process is taking relatively long since it is the Government’ s endeavour to protect the livelihood and health of the Diepsloot community. The complexity to rectify this situation is well understood due to the magnitude of the network, the flushing process, and related engineering and scientific processes. The interventions implemented so far that stem from these processes have shown significant improvement in terms of quality but the caution remain that it is not complying with national standards as yet. The water sample drawn through the flushing process was taken to the lab and this process takes 18 to 22 hours to mature.
“Community members are thus warned that they should not use the water for drinking and cooking as yet but they can use the water for sanitation purposes. Only the residents living in Extension 2 can use the tap water since the pipeline in that area was not affected”, said Mabudafhasi. The communication to the community is in line with the incident management protocol and the community is encouraged to adhere to the advisories forthcoming from the City in this regard.
Alternative supply is available at 65 stationary tanks and 13 mobile trucks which are placed at strategic points across the affected area. The Department is most satisfied with the fact that sanitation services have been restored as from late yesterday since full pressure water supply is now available.
Mabudafhasi further said, “that the Department will continue to monitor the situation and trust the network will be stabilised as soon as possible”.
Enquiries:
Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
E-mail: mbelengwap@dwa.gov.za
Millicent Kabwe
Tel: 011 688 1577
Cell: 083 420 1407
E-mail: Millicent.Kabwe@jwater.co.za
Diepsloot water situation is under control
