The Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology (IWWT) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) says that tap water in the south and northwestern areas of the eThekwini Municipality is safe to drink.
The confirmation from IWWT comes after concerns emerged around the quality of drinking water which researchers at the DUT tested last week.
DUT concluded that the tap water samples satisfy microbiological drinking water standards.
Director of IWWT Professor Faizal Bux says they have also tested samples from the uMgeni river mouth where dead fish were seen a few weeks ago. He says tests showed extremely low levels of dissolved oxygen which could have caused the fish to die.
Bux says, “Last week, we decided to test the water quality in the eThekwini region for both the south, north and the western areas. We collected random samples and then brought it to the laboratory and tested the water focussing on the microbiotic standards.”
“So we tested the water and fortunately we have to say the water quality satisfies the national standard, so we are safe to drink tap water,” says Bux.
In April this year, Umgeni Water warned eThekwini residents not to drink water coming out of broken water pipes:
