Water crisis in Nelson Mandela Bay 'to last longer than expected'
The Department of Water and Sanitation says the water quality issues in the Nelson Mandela Bay will last longer than expected due to poor rainfall.
On Monday, the municipality issued a statement saying its latest water quality test results show that the quality had deteriorated and certain microbiological limits were exceeded.
“It is through this process that the municipality has come to detect failures in water compliance with SANS standards. This means that, for now, the water coming out of our distribution system could present a risk to human health if ingested," it said in a statement.
Water and Sanitation spokesperson Sputnik Ratau urged residents to boil the water first before using it.
"It is not about the quality of treated water but the water from the reservoir that is a problem, for the foreseeable future all user must at least boil the water for cooking and things like that."
Ratau says the area is in the midst of a drought.
"The situation is exacerbated by low rainfall and the catchment areas have not found any new water and there is no additional water from rivers to dams and hence we have low dam levels, the water that goes to the treatment plant is little. The reservoirs are so low that is why we have coloured water and so on."
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