A national water testing campaign has found that most water storage tanks at South African schools are contaminated, and unfit for human consumption, while tap water and river water samples also showed high levels of bacteria, reports Mail & Guardian.
Of 19 tank water samples tested in eight provinces, 14 contained bacterial contamination, including E coli, rendering the water unfit for human consumption.
Of the 53 schools that upload valid data, 23 returned results showing water that was unsafe to drink. In total, 43% of the 53 samples tested showed bacterial contamination – this included 23% of tap water sources and 66% of river samples.
But storage tanks, which are installed mainly for commercial and private use to compensate for failing municipal water infrastructure, showed the highest rate of contamination.
Mail & Guardian reports that the tests formed part of a random sampling project led by non-profit group WaterCAN and its partners during March and April this year, with schoolchildren and teachers trained to test and upload results.
The campaign was designed to coincide with World Water Day and involved 95 schools. Water was tested from taps, rivers and tanks, the primary sources of drinking water at participating schools.
The pupils were trained to use citizen science water test kits, which checked for chemical and microbiological contaminants like nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, chlorine, bacterial contamination from total coliforms and E coli, as well as the acidity, alkalinity and hardness levels of the water.
Ferrial Adam, the Executive Director of WaterCAN, said the results showed the importance of monitoring water tanks at schools.
“We don’t know how often they’re maintained; we don’t know what their source of water is. Some of them get municipal water, some of them are rainwater-harvested, some of them are from boreholes. But in all of that, whatever their source, there are issues that need to be raised.”
She said the results of this small project were worrying.
“If we look at the government’s Blue Drop and Green Drop reports, there is an alignment to what we’re seeing here. Yes, it’s a snapshot, it’s a small sample but it correlates to what the reports have been saying.”
The project included online and in-person training sessions for teachers and pupils.
WaterCAN’s report acknowledges that only 47% of schools submitted test results, because of schools being closed for the holidays, data upload difficulties and other logistical barriers.
Nomsa Daele, WaterCAN’s citizen science training co-ordinator, said this was “a wake-up call, needing urgent action and advocacy work”.
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