North West town's water toxic

2003-10-22 21:36

Loanne Louw

Hartbeespoort - Residents of Brits and the areas around Hartbeespoort dam do not have drinking water after blue algae from the dam polluted their water sources.

The Madibeng local government made an emergency announcement on Wednesday that people should not drink water from the area. The blue algae pose a health-risk because it can cause stomach conditions and skin irritations.

Hartbeespoort Dam has been struggling with high levels of algae and blue algae on the water surface for the past year. The bad weather over the past weekend caused the algae to sink under the surface.

The dam's sluices were also opened over the weekend to provide water to the Vaalkop dam. In the process, some of the algae flowed into the Crocodile River and was taken up in the water purification plant, said municipal manager Tebogo Ntlatleng on Wednesday.

The water in the reservoir at Brits is green and contains unknown levels of the dangerous algae. The purification plant can remove 70% to 80% of the algae, but the council is not sure what the remaining algae could do to consumers.

"We do not want to take chances and ask that residents rather not drink the water," Ntlatleng said.

The council started testing new products to purify the water on Wednesday and it seems as if these could work.

The department of water affairs and forestry recently warned residents in the Hartbeespoort area that the algae could be toxic to humans and animals. Animals that drink from the dam are running the biggest risk of being poisoned.

Anyone who comes into contact with the poisonous algae should wash it off with clean water as soon as possible. If there are symptoms such as stomach problems, nausea or skin irritations, the person should visit a doctor.

The problem could persist another two weeks.

- Beeld