Image Courtesy of Stock Photo.

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo, has instructed the department’s regional office in the North West to increase its support to the Madibeng Local Municipality to fast track the refurbishment of Brits Water Treatment Works.

Mahlobo made the call during a follow up visit to Brits on Friday to assess progress made to date following his last visit in March.

It also follows tip offs he received of alleged poor water quality being supplied to Madibeng community due to Brits Water Treatment Works’ inability to work optimally.

The capacity of the Brits Water Treatment Works is currently being upgraded from 60 to 80 megaliters per day and Magalies Water is the appointed implementing agent.

During his visit, Mahlobo met with Madibeng Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Jostine Mothibe who indicated that there has been an improvement in the Brits Water Treatment Works.

The Deputy Minister implored Magalies Water, Madibeng Local Municipality and the department to work hand and glove to ensure that the water treatment works is restored and functions optimally to meet the needs of the community.

“We cannot allow a situation where community members are supplied with substandard water due to our inability to work together when we experience challenges. We owe this community a great deal and this needs to be treated with a sense of urgency it deserves,” Mahlobo said.

Mothibe said the community of Madibeng is not happy with the intermittent water cuts due to the construction phases and refurbishment underway.

He said the biggest challenge to the Brits water treatment is the quality of water received at abstraction point from the Hartbeespoort Dam.

The water is rich in nutrients and part of the upgrade work is the introduction of pre-treatment using an Ozone system to oxidise the algae, and this will ease the pressure off the filters. The quality of the water received from upstream drives up the treatment price.