The public has until June 29 to comment on the new draft national standard for South Africa’s drinking water.
The draft seventh edition of the South African National Standard (SANS) 241: Drinking Water Quality is the outcome of work done by national standardisation body the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and its Technical Committee 147: Water to revise and update the requirements of the national standard for drinking water.
The latest draft standard, which combines the technical requirements from the previous Part 1 and Part 2 of SANS 241: 2015, stipulates the revised framework for drinking water quality risk management and specifications for drinking water quality in the country.
All water that complies with the requirements of SANS 241 is deemed to be safe for human consumption.
Quality of Water“Drinking water that is of a quality for human consumption is a basic human need. While there are existing national standard to guide the quality of drinking water in South Africa, it is essential that these standards are reviewed and updated to reflect the latest knowledge and research to ensure that quality drinking water reaches our communities,” says SABS lead administrator Jodi Scholtz.
“The requirements for the drinking water include the technical specifications, monitoring and evaluation and risk management. Microbiological, physical, aesthetic and the chemical determinants of water have been revised according to the latest research and the framework has been updated to incorporate risk management as well as monitoring and evaluation.”
When the draft national standard is published, it will replace the current SANS 241:2015. All individuals and organisations involved in the process of delivering quality drinking water to communities will need to ensure that they are familiar with the draft changes.
The draft national standard will be published once the public enquiry process of consultation, including responding to the comments submitted, has been concluded.
The duration of the process will depend on the nature of the public comments which may include further stakeholder engagements in the standards development process.