Brown Water from Taps

Overstrand Municipality is aware of a problem with the colour of drinking water in the Greater Gansbaai area and has been attending to the rectification and monitoring of the situation since Monday 1 March 2021.

On Saturday 27 February 2021, an incident of under-dosing of a chemical at the Franskraal Water Works led to water with colour ending up in the Gansbaai, Kleinbaai and Franskraal reservoir and the water network.

Please note that during this whole period the water was and is suitable for human consumption, as disinfection of the drinking water continued as normal during this period.

The issue has since been rectified at the treatment works.

Due to the lower water demand in certain areas, the stabilisation of the situation has taken longer than expected.

We can confirm that the colour of water from the plant and within the reservoirs is already within the standard, and with the latest sampling indicated a decline in the colour in the network as well.

We will however continue to monitor the situation and will take action until the network has completely stabilised.

Note that the colour in the water is from plant matter that is dissolved in the raw water during run-off to the dam, and not harmful to humans. This is the only parameter in the raw water that requires treatment to an acceptable aesthetic level.