Blue and green drop project: AfriForum tests water quality in North West
AfriForum tested the water in 27 towns in North West during May 2017 to ascertain the quality of these towns’ drinking water and treated sewage. About one million people use this water.
The 27 towns are: Hartbeespoort, Brits, Mooinooi, Rustenburg, Buffelspoort, Swartruggens, Zeerust, Koster, Lichtenburg, Coligny, Wolmaransstad, Makwassie, Leeudoringstad, Klerksdorp, Orkney, Hartbeesfontein, Ventersdorp, Stilfontein, Potchefstroom, Sannieshof, Delareyville, Ottosdal, Bloemhof, Christiana, Schweizer-Reneke, Vryburg and Stella. The North-West University’s (Potchefstroom campus) water was also tested seperately.
“We established that the drinking water in the province is clean and contains no heavy metals, while bacteria levels adhere to applicable standards. However, AfriForum will test the water quality continuously to protect the constitutional rights of residents of these towns and to ensure that they are provided with clean drinking water,” says Tiaan Oosthuizen, AfriForum’s Regional Coordinator for the North West Province.
However, the civil rights organisation expressed its concern regarding the treated waste water in Hartbeespoort, Klerksdorp, Ottosdal, Potchefstroom, Schweizer-Reneke and Vryburg, which does not adhere to the applicable standards. “Our rivers are continuously being polluted by inefficient sewage networks, which as a result of poor maintenance by the local municipalities, are continuously declining and threatening the quality of our water resources,” says Oosthuizen furthermore.
AfriForum’s national blue and green drop project focuses on the quality of the drinking water and sewage plants of towns. The project does not necessarily focus on the condition of the sewage plant itself, but rather on the quality of water released after the process as result in the form of drinking water (blue drop) and treated sewage (green drop).
“We request the residents of these towns to give AfriForum the mandate to continuously monitor their town’s water quality. SMS your town’s name to 45340 to support this project. Each SMS costs R1,” Oosthuizen concludes.
