Boil alert confined to Athlone Park as eThekwini probes reservoir issue
eThekwini Municipality has clarified that its precautionary alert for people to boil their water before use is limited to the Athlone Park supply zone.
It follows public concern about broader water quality issues in the southern region.
The city issued the warning for residents in Athlone Park, Galleria Mall, Arbour Crossing and Kingsway Hospital over the weekend.
It said the notice was triggered after routine tests showed that water quality in this zone did not meet acceptable standards.
The area's ward councillor, Andre Beetge, said he tried to enquire about the reason for the boil alert after receiving notice on Saturday.
" We attempted to get more clarity on it because as it was sent out, people immediately started panicking and questions were asked whether their in-house filtration systems were adequate, what kind of filtration was needed to be done?
"It was the one minute boiling adequate? The only answers we got is that they are still busy doing tests, that there was an isolated sample within the one reservoir, and reservoir two that did not meet the standards."
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Beegte said they have since found the problem.
" The reservoir, tank two would now be cleaned on Tuesday, and they suspected that whatever is the contamination was a result of the tank not being cleaned in line with the maintenance schedule because the area had been experiencing water supply problems for the last month."
In a statement on Monday, the municipality said while water quality results show improvement, the alert remains in place pending further testing.
Outside of the affected areas, eThekwni says potable water remains safe and fully compliant with SANS 241 drinking water standards.
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