Cape Town – The mystery of milky-coloured water is plaguing residents of Delft, Mitchells Plain and surrounding areas.
According to Mitchells Plain CPF’s Norman Jantjies, the milky water had allegedly been running from the taps since Sunday as a result of pipe maintenance, and community members were afraid of falling ill.
Delft CPF chairperson Pastor Charles George said that it was quite unfortunate this had to happen to lower-income communities.
“If you look at our health infrastructure that's already overloaded and especially children who drink this water and then develop some kind of diarrhoea or some kind of infection, this would put even more strain on the current overburdened health sector.
“Furthermore, it is really sad that given the circumstances we already face in the community, our basic right to water has to be violated, especially in the poor communities where we have to succumb to substandard or rather bad-quality water, whereas compared to your middle upper class, these things won't happen.
“Nevertheless, communication has been sent out to the community to keep safe and we are warning everybody not to drink the water, first to cook it and after they cook it then let it cool down and then drink it,” said George.
The City’s spokesperson, Luthando Thyalibongo, said that the cloudy/milky water was the result of an upgrade taking place on the supply line from the Faure water treatment plant this weekend; however, he gave his assurance that the water was safe.
“The cloudy/milky water is common after pipe maintenance and the discolouration is caused by tiny air bubbles entrained in the water after pipelines are re-pressurised. However, this is no cause for concern. If the water is left in a glass, it should clear in a few minutes as air is released,” said Thyalibongo.
Weekend Argus