Tap water in Johannesburg is still safe to drink, contrary to hoax emails warning people otherwise, the city’s water utility said on Tuesday.
”The quality of Johannesburg’s tap water continues to be rated as among the best in the world. Our scientists routinely monitor more than 500 drinking water samples per month,” said Johannesburg Water spokesperson Tebatso Baldwin Matsimela.
He urged Johannesburg residents to ignore circulating emails warning them to stay clear of tap water because it was contaminated.
”Customers are urged to ignore this mail or any other related correspondence as this is the work of individuals or parties trying to cause panic amongst our customers and stakeholders,” he said.
”Tap-water samples are taken from the bulk supply to reservoirs and across the city, including samples from informal settlements areas.
”Through this rigorous testing and monitoring process we are able to respond proactively and quickly to any possible water quality problems and ensure that the quality of every drop of the million litres of water that passes through our network daily is well within the SABS [South African Bureau of Standards] standard of class-one drinking water,” Matsimela said. — Sapa