'Nothing wrong' with tea-coloured water

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KNYSNA NEWS - In spite of its discolouration and at times strong pungency, Knysna Municipality steadfastly maintains that the town's water is safe to drink.

In a press statement this week, Acting Municipal Manager David Adonis reassured residents that no harm will befall them when they drink water from their taps.

But many Knysna residents who might easily have mistaken their water for a pot of tea or coffee over the past year, remain unconvinced.

After an outcry by townsfolk in March this year, the municipality attributed the dark and sometimes pungent water to the coupling of the Charlesford pipe to the Eastford pipeline. Upgrades to the Charlesford pump station were completed in May.

In June, Hornlee resident Neil Davidson complained about having to constantly replace his water filters, alleging that this was due to the state of the water. Then acting municipal manager Phumla Makoma's response was that the high rainfall in Knysna, as well as breaks in the pipeline leading to Sunridge Reservoir, were the reasons for the problems.

Tea, anyone?

Photo gallery: Knysna's dirty water

In July, the Democratic Alliance (DA) expressed its displeasure at the ongoing water issue and called upon the municipality to take action. However, in the two months since, residents have still opened their taps to find water similar in colour to the chocolate river in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series.

But Adonis insisted that the water is perfectly safe to drink. "More importantly, we are working to resolve the situation as soon as possible. We know about the problem, we know what is causing it, and we are working to correct it," he said.

According to Adonis the upgrades to the Charlesford pump station increased the pump tempo and allows them to process more raw water. "The increased pumping capacity and activity have temporarily increased the colour and turbidity of the water at the weir, and pumped more silt into the water treatment works," Adonis explained.

The municipality has requested the assistance of experts in the field to propose ways to eliminate the colour in the water. "While the quality of raw water pumped from Charlesford will clear once the new pumps have settled into the natural river sump, we have identified measures to improve the situation now," he said.

Is that a beer? Nope, just dirty water.

Corrective measures that will be put in place to address the increase in colour and turbidity:

Replacing of the existing silica sand filter media with glass filter media;
Automation of chemical dosing;
Improving of infrastructure.

"In the interim, the process controllers have no option but to use water from the Akkerkloof Dam when the Charlesford water is grossly discoloured," Adonis said.

"The water from Akkerkloof is of a better quality and has a lower colour and turbidity.

"This is not ideal, as the Akkerkloof Dam is our main storage dam and should be kept at 100% capacity. We need to have an available water source should the main bulk supply from Charlesford be disrupted due to low rainfall, mechanical or electrical failure, or a pipe burst."

Fancy a swim?