Unlike most destinations where tourists have to buy bottled water, South
Africa's tap water is of high quality and compares favourably with that
of leading industrialised nations, leaving visitors with extra money to
spend elsewhere.
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry's technical regulation director,
Leonardo Manus, told BuaNews this week that according to guidelines issued
by the World Health Organisation, South Africa compared favourable with
countries such as Canada, which is a world leader in managing the quality
of tap water.
"We we have great confidence in the quality of the tap water reticulated
in our cities and bigger towns," Manus said.
Manus noted, however, that more work needed to be done before the department
could claim the same level of confidence in the rural areas and smaller
towns in the country.
"This is due to the fact that some of our communities are not connected
to systems that provide treated water, due to some historic disadvantages
and a lack of technical capacity at smaller municipalities," he said.
He said the department had taken various steps to ensure that a "preventative
culture" was adopted in the management of drinking water quality.
"As part of the 2010 World Cup preparations, the department is joining
hands with the host cities and towns to get water safety and security
plans in place to ensure that the municipalities are prepared for the
occurrence of drinking water quality failures," Manus said, adding
that this would also help in putting early warning mechanisms in place.
Sue Freese of the Water Institute for Southern Africa said the reason
for the country's clean water was because of the existing infrastructure,
which was properly maintained.
"South Africa has a good maintenance programme in place to avoid
decay, and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry is helpful in
implementing drinking water qualification regulations to water authorities,"
Freese said.
,
5 December 2007
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
Click on a photo...
