AfriForum tested the water of various towns in Limpopo during April 2018 to determine the quality of these towns’ drinking (blue drop status) and sewage (green drop status) water.
“We could establish that the drinking water of every town, except Ellisras, complied with the minimum standards and didn’t contain any harmful bacteria. AfriForum’s local structure in Ellisras will continuously test the water quality after high readings of E. coli were taken. It contains a lot of negative consequences for residents consuming contaminated water. It is our duty to place pressure on the authorities to ensure that the drinking water is not only clean, but also up to standard,” says Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Limpopo.
Blue drop results
These results indicate that the drinking water of most of the towns in Limpopo is clean.
| Limpopo | ||||
| Branch | Municipality | AfriForum blue drop 2016 | AfriForum blue drop 2017 | AfriForum blue drop 2018 |
| Warmbaths | Bela-Bela LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Nylstroom | Lim 368 LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Naboomspruit | Lim 368 LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Vaalwater | Lim 368 LM | – | Clean | Clean |
| Ellisras | Lephalale LM | Clean | Eight units E. coli per 100 ml | High E. coli count |
| Louis Trichardt | Makhado LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Tzaneen | Greater Tzaneen LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Haenertsburg | Greater Tzaneen LM | – | Clean | Clean |
| Phalaborwa | Ba-Phalaborwa LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Groblersdal | Elias Motsoaledi LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Pietersburg | Polokwane LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Potgietersrus | Mogalakwena LM | – | – | Clean |
| Marble Hall | Ephraim Mogale LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
Green drop results
According to AfriForum’s green drop results, the sewage water of seven of the towns does not comply with the stipulated microbiological standards.
| Limpopo | ||||
| Branch | Municipality | AfriForum green drop 2016 | AfriForum green drop 2017 | AfriForum green drop 2018 |
| Warmbaths | Bela-Bela LM | – | – | – |
| Nylstroom | Lim 368 LM | >1 000 | >1 000 | >100 000 |
| Naboomspruit | Lim 368 LM | – | – | >100 000 |
| Vaalwater | Lim 368 LM | – | – | –
|
| Ellisras | Lephalale LM | – | High phosphate count >15 000 | High phosphate and E. coli count >100 000 per 100 ml |
| Louis Trichardt | Makhado LM | – | >1 000 | – |
| Tzaneen | Greater Tzaneen LM | Clean | Clean | Clean |
| Haenertsburg | Greater Tzaneen LM | – | – | – |
| Phalaborwa | Ba-Phalaborwa LM | – | – | High phosphate and E. coli count >100 000 per 100 ml |
| Groblersdal | Elias Motsoaledi LM | >1 000 | – | – |
| Marble Hall | Ephraim Mogale LM | 17 000 | – | – |
“AfriForum’s national blue and green drop project focuses on the state of towns’ drinking water and sewage plants. This project doesn’t necessarily focus on the state of the plant itself, but rather on the quality of the water being supplied after the process as end product in the form of drinking water (blue drop) and treated sewage water (green drop),” concludes Grobbelaar.
AfriForum requests the residents of Limpopo to give the organisation the mandate to continuously monitor the quality of water. SMS “Skoon water” to 45340 and add your support to this action. Each SMS costs R1.