Following increased concerns relating to the quality of tap water in Grahamstown, Rhodes University Vice Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat chose water quality in Grahamstown as the subject of debate at the VC Public Forum on Monday.
Following increased concerns relating to the quality of tap water in Grahamstown, Rhodes University Vice Chancellor Dr Saleem Badat chose water quality in Grahamstown as the subject of debate at the VC Public Forum on Monday.
There was no consensus reached during the debate on water quality as the scientists not only disagreed with the municipality but also among themselves.
Despite the expressed contradictions, in the end all interested parties agreed to work together for a better and common understanding of the problem and the solution.
The forum started with brief presentations by a panel consisting of Makana technical and infrastructural services director Dabula Njilo and Rhodes scientists, Institute of Water Research director Denis Hughes, analytical chemist Nelson Torto, Institute for Social and Economic Research Director Greg Ruiters, Dean of Science Ric Bernard and Head of Biotechnology Dr Janice Limson.
As explained by Badat who chaired the forum, the gathering was meant to answer the question of whether it is safe to drink tap water and who is qualified to test the quality of the water and report their findings
to the public.
The scientists took turns explaining various aspects of water testing and quality but did not agree on the toxicity of the chemicals which were supposedly found to be present in tap water.
Njilo attributed the recent presence of E.coli in tap water to a dysfunctional chlorinator. He announced that a water services manager was appointed last week and that today his directorate would be appointing three senior technicians, two of whom will work in the water services department.
Njilo accepted a challenge from Ayanda Kota, convenor of the Unemployed People’s Movement, that a similar debate should be held in the township as they are frequently affected by water outages and brown sludge coming out of their taps.
Makana councillor Michael Whisson told the forum that the municipality does not comply with the water testing regulations of the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs and the South African Bureau
of Standards.
“Our municipal government, both local and district, have been recklessly negligent in testing and reporting,” he said.
He accused the municipality of poor management of the reticulation of water arguing that officials in the water services department are not “disciplined” and that the high frequency of outages in the township cannot be blamed on “old pipes”.
He added that there is no preventative maintennance of infrastructure being undertaken by the municipality. The only definite outcome reached by the end of the forum was that co-operation between the municipality and the Grahamstown community is essential.
The university has established a task team, which is led by Deputy Vice Chancellor Peter Clayton, to engage with the Makana Municipality in an attempt to solve the multiple water problems.
Badat concluded by saying that it was important that the municipality work with the whole Grahamstown community to resolve the situation and not just with the university. See Pages 12 and 13 for further reporting on the water forum.
