Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has advised residents in the eastern, central and southern suburbs to boil water before drinking or using it as water in its distribution system is currently discoloured in these areas.
This is as the City does further testing and investigates the matter.
The City has issued a statement saying that the water being distributed from its Faure water treatment plant is currently discoloured.
Affected areas include: 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.
“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 statement said.
The City said the continued sporadic bouts of load shedding have had a detrimental effect on its operations and was one of the reasons it's pushing to reduce its reliance on the failing power utility, Eskom.
The supply from the Faure water treatment plant has been stopped and affected areas are now being fed water from the Blackheath Reservoir.
Currently, intensive water sampling and ongoing testing are underway.
The City has assured residents that it was working as fast as possible to resolve the matter over the next few days.
It advised residents 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.
The City of Cape Town said it will be providing residents with regular updates via its social media accounts.
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.