Our water is now safe to drink: uMhlathuze Municipality
The city of uMhlathuze says the tap water in Richards Bay, and their surrounds is now safe to drink.
Yesterday, residents of areas including the Richards Bay CBD, Arboretum, Veldenvlei, Veldenviede, Aquadene and Brackenham were urged not to consume the water after high levels of manganese were were detected in water samples from the Nsezi Lake.
The city's Mdu Ncalane says the contaminated water was flushed out and channeled to industries that don't require potable water for production and other operations.
"All the samples that were taken, and the flushing-out of the contaminated water. It is now safe to drink and to cook using our water. And we'd like to apologize profoundly for any inconvenience that has happened," he said.
Ncalane says water experts are trying to trace the source of the manganese and completely eliminate the chemical element from water sources.