Township residents of Delmas, Mpumalanga, are now receiving uncontaminated water after the local municipality installed a R2,5 million water pipe.
The waterpipe between borehole C and the Delmas reservoir ensures that ground water from the borehole is purified before being fed directly into the homes of residents of Botleng township.
"We are happy (residents) can now drink their water without any worry. We first had to test the water pipe for two weeks before we approved it, and it has definitely made a difference," said departmental spokesman Simphiwe Kunene this week.
Borehole C was identified as the source of contaminated ground water, which caused the typhoid outbreak in which five people died in August last year. Some 3 500 cases of diarrhoea were reported and 610 cases of typhoid.
Local government and housing MEC Jabu Mahlangu instructed the municipality to immediately upgrade its water service.
Kunene said the municipality had also completed two water management plans to monitor the levels of underground water and determine how much water is used and needed within the municipal area.
Kunene said a feasibility study to connect Delmas to Gauteng`s more reliable water concession company Rand Water had also been completed.
The connection to Rand Water is expected to cost in the region of R70 million. - African Eye News Service.