Bitou’s water quality third best in SA
The Department of Water Affairs initiated the drinking water quality (DWQ) regulation in 2005 with the objective of ensuring water quality improvement of tap water quality by means of compliance monitoring.
The blue drop certification programme is only in its second year of existence and promises to be catalyst for sustainable improvement in South Africa’s drinking water standards and management in its entirety.
Background
The blue drop requirements increased from 6 to 9 in criteria. Water Safety Plans, Asset Management and DWQ Performance Publication were introduced as new requirements and accumulatively accounted for 25% of the weighting. The other requirements are Process Control and Maintenance Competency, efficiency of drinking water quality monitoring programme, credibility of drinking water sample analysis, regular submission of drinking water quality results to DWA, drinking water compliance with SANS, drinking water quality failure response management, responsible publication of drinking water quality management performance, efficacy of basic drinking water quality asset management.
Bitou Local Municipality came out third out of the top ten best blue drop performers in the country, and came out second in the Western Cape Province. The City of Johannesburg and Cape Town Metro were first and second nationally respectively and the City of Cape Town came out first in the Western Cape Province.
The Municipal Blue Drop score was 97, 7 overall, with all three of the Bitou Water Treatment works acquiring blue drop status. This incredible performance during assessment warranted the allocation of the prestigious award to all the three water systems. The score signifies that the municipality is managing its water quality with excellence and that the supply water system qualifies for blue drop certification.
The Bitou Municipality acquired six awards, namely, for:
- Retaining Blue Drop Status
- Water Safety Plan
- 3 Awards for each of Water Purification Works in Bitou
- 3rd Overall in the country out of 787 Water Purification Works in the country that were assessed.
Most noteworthy of this performance is the effort by the municipality to draft their own Water Safety Plan without specialist assistance. It was most commendable and serves as motivation to other municipalities that good and effective safety water plans could be drafted by those who know their system best.
This means that DWA is confident that the water services institution is capable of sustaining safe quality of water supply. The Municipal Services and Infrastructure Department will act responsibly not to deviate but maintain water quality through continuous efficient operations and compliance monitoring.
(For more information on Blue Drop Awards visit Department of Water Affairs website www.dwa.gov.za/bluedrop )