BRACKENFELL
B u r g e r E-pos: tyger@dieburger.com
Woensdag 9 Mei 2012
Tel: 021 910 6500
Faks: 021 910 6501
Polisie laat speke sing vir fonds Sowat 15 polisiemanne van die Brackenfellpoli siestasie is tans besig om ’n 496 kmfietstoer af te lê om geld in te samel vir die SAPD se opvoedkundige fonds. Die fonds ondersteun die kinders wie se ouers aan diens oorlede is finansieel met tersiêre onderrig. Die groep ry van Bracken fell deur Durbanville, Melkbosstrand, Darling, Saldanha, Vredenburg, Hopefield, Moorrees burg, Piketberg, Porterville, Gouda, Riebeeckkasteel, Malmesbury, Paarl en eindig weer Vrydag (11 Mei) in Brackenfell.
) Taste and odour caused by an organic compound
‘Stinky water’ is safe DESIREÉ RORKE
Despite kids and the cats of Brackenfell snubbing their noses at the stinking tap water, the City of Cape Town insists that it is safe for human consumption. Residents in parts of Brackenfell, incorporating Sonkring and Protea Heights, are anxious about the safety of the drinking water after a foul smell and taste was detected in it recently. “It smells and tastes like mouldy water that has been standing in a closed bottle for days and has started going green. It makes me nau-
seous, and I can’t drink it. My children won’t drink it, and neither will my cats, who will only drink bottled water or lick up the rainwater outside,” says Adele Groenewald. For Johan Boshoff, the water has a very strong chemical taste and smell. “It reminds me very much of the old DDT, an insecticide which was banned (in the 1970s) as it was very harmful to humans,” he said and adds that it does not even help to boil the water. TygerBurger was flooded with calls and emails from concerned citizens and we turned to the city for answers.
“We want to assure the residents of Cape Town that despite the ‘earthy’ taste and odour, the water is absolutely safe to drink,” they stated last week Thursday. This taste and odour, according to Peter Flower of the city’s water and sanitation department, are caused by an organic compound, geosmin, which originates from several of the major dams supplying Cape Town. “The presence of geosmin was noted earlier in the year, and has recently recurred. Treatment with activated carbon has been reintroduced,” he said. Geosmin are naturally occurring
compounds found in surface waters of rivers and dams, as organic molecules produced by blue-green algae. According to Flower, this algae and resultant compounds have occurred in the the Theewaterskloof and Volvlei dams over the last 12 to 15 years for a few weeks during the summer months. “Bright sun, warm temperatures and nutrients result in ideal growing conditions for the algae. “The compounds are produced inside the algae cells and are only released when the algae die,” Flower says. According to him, continuous water quality monitoring by the
city’s South African National Accreditation System (Sanas) laboratory, has recently revealed elevated geosmin concentrations in the water supply. A level greater than 10 nanograms per litre was detected – one nanogram is a billionth of a gram. “The human perception threshold is about 15 and 20 ng/F for geosmin odour and taste respectively and people with a heightened sense of smell and taste would be the first to notice the presence of geosmin in their water supply, as these are extremely low concentrations,” he said. . To page 2.