City of Cape Town reassures residents 'earthy' tasting water is safe to drink
The City of Cape Town has reassured residents who have detected an "earthy" flavour to their tap water that it remains safe to drink.
On Thursday, the City said the water was safe to drink and compliant with SANS241 standards.
"It must be emphasised that geosmin poses no threat to human health. It is a naturally occurring organic compound and is responsible for the earthy taste of beetroot and the scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell," the City said in a statement.
The compound was sometimes present in water, particularly during periods of hot weather, and even minute concentrations of a few parts per trillion could be detected by the human palate.
The City said there were currently high levels of geosmin in the raw water supply from the Theewaterskloof Dam.
This was affecting the taste and smell of the water supplied from the Faure and Blackheath water treatment plants to various areas across Cape Town, primarily the central and southern regions.
"The City is monitoring the situation as part of the water treatment process, which is currently enhanced by the dosing of powdered activated carbon during this process to reduce the effect of the geosmin."
However, it may take some time for the taste and smell of the water to normalise.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
EIMS is an independent specialised environmental consulting firm offering the full spectrum of environmental management services across all sectors...
VISIT SHOWROOM
The Beneficiation Academy is a certified training institution that follows all compliance legislation and is accredited with various Sector...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
