KNYSNA NEWS - A Hornlee resident's claim that the water in Knysna is to blame for his having to replace his water filter and purchase a new geyser for his house has once more shone the spotlight on the controversial discolouration of water in Hornlee.
According to Hornlee resident Neil Davidson, he has had to replace three water filters in six months as a result of the discoloured water.
"This is not acceptable and it costs me more than the water itself. Not that it matters, because I will do it over and over if it comes to my health, but we are supposed to get clean drinking water from Knysna Municipality," he told KPH.
He said one water filter is supposed to last four to six months.
"I have to buy filters and frequently clean the water tanks and I had to change my geyser as the water is clogging up my geyser," he said.
Neil Davidson found this residue when changing his water filter.
Impacting factors
In response, Acting Municipal Manager Phumla Makoma explained the reasons for the discolouring in Knysna's water in a statement, saying the municipality pumps water from Knysna River and due to high rainfall in March, the colour of the water intensified and varied significantly.
"This made flocculent dosing very difficult. The colour changes affected the effectiveness of the normal dosing and caused carry-over into the system," she said.
To rectify this, the department blended the water from the Knysna River with water from the Akkerkloof Dam. "This decreased the discolouration while experts assisted with different dosing formulas. A more accurate dosing chart was developed and the adjustments on the dosing system were done more frequently," she said.
In addition, Makoma said, two pipe breaks occurred at the end of March on the main line feeding the Sunridge Reservoir.
"At the time the commissioning of the Charlesford/Eastford Raw Water Pumping Scheme was scheduled and only limited water could be abstracted from the Akkerkloof Dam during the five-day project. This had an effect on all the lines with only limited flow reaching the Vigilance Drive Pump Station, which had a negative impact on the Bigai intermediate reservoir and a knock-on effect on the Sunridge and Noetzie water zones as well," she explained.
The Sunridge and Noetzie reservoirs ran critically low and the mix of water and residue in the reservoir caused brown water in the water reticulation system.
"A pump was installed in Bigai Spring and other systems were closed to maximise the flow to Hornlee reservoirs. Water trucks were used to boost storage at reservoirs and water trucks roamed the areas for water collection."
After this, three water breaks were experienced on the bulk gravity main and they had to recommission the pipeline.
"During the commissioning on 16 April 2021, no water reached the Vigilance Drive Water Pump Station. When the breaks occurred, the commissioning was stopped and we reverted to the temporary supply system. We still did not get the required flow rate at the pump station and the Bigai reservoir ran low, which caused residue to mix with water at the bottom of the reservoir, which caused the brown water," she said.
Not a pretty sight. This is what Neil Davidson's water filter looked like when he had to change it much sooner than the advised four to six months.
No E.coli bacteria
Makoma assured residents that in all these incidents the water was tested by the Garden Route District Municipality and no E.coli bacteria was found in the system.
"The Sanas (South African National Accreditation System) laboratory verified the results as safe for potable use," she said.
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