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Is Our Water Safe to Drink?

4/4/2013

12 Comments

 
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Post blog update : 24 May 2014 - I may have been misled by the information supplied to me, more research needed.
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Ah the internet ... it is so easy to get completely freaked out by what you read.  I've been doing a ton of research on fluoride in water and it's made me really concerned.  I decided I must have a water filtration system installed to get this poison out of my body because I drink litres of the stuff every day.

Next I went to Facebook to ask if anyone had advice on which system to buy.  There was instant conflicting advice, all from people who's hearts were in the right place and who were just talking from their own personal experience.  I went to all the websites suggested, called some the people.  

One person in particular asked me something no-one else had : "Where does your water come from?" I had to stop a second to think about what he meant.  Do you think to ask that question ever, and do you know the answer?  I thought I knew, (turns out I didn't).  Then he asked me what I wanted removed from the water.  "Fluoride" was my confident answer! Well that's nice, except South Africa doesn't actually put fluoride in our water...

I spent half an hour on the phone to Harry who has got 40 years experience in the water industry. He didn't try to sell me anything, he just tried to educate me. Harry spoke more sense to me in that half an hour than all the research I'd done in a month on the net.  Now that I knew the right questions to ask, I researched again.  

  • South Africa is listed as one of the countries with safe drinking water for approximately 80% of it's population.
  • We have a Blue Drop certification system for drinking water management, (and a Green Drop certification system for waste water management), which was launched by the Department of Water Affairs in 2008. 
  • Read the 2012 Blue Drop Report.
  • Most of the water in Gauteng is supplied by Rand Water, but also from Johannesburg Water and Magalies Water.
  • The average Blue Drop rating for Gauteng was 98.1% in 2012.
  • My water specifically comes from Johannesburg Water.  They clean 65km of sewers and clear 2000 blocked sewers a month.  It has 4 treatment plants, the largest of which cleans 300million litres of waste water every day!  They test 500 tap water samples a month.
  • Johannesburg is one of the only cities in the world not close to its water source, so it gets pumped 50km from the Vaal by Rand Water.
  • Treated water from Joburg gets dumped into Jukskei / Crocodile river catchment, and Klip / Vaal river catchment. (I need to investigate this some more).

The situation isn't perfect for everyone, many rural areas still have huge water challenges. However our major cities of Jhb, Cpt and Dbn are considered very safe, and on cursory examination it appears that the suppliers are doing all they can to keep it that way.

Here are the Blue Drop scores for 2012 :
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Learning to think for yourself is not easy!  You don't always know the right questions to ask, you can end up in a serious tizz as a result and people take advantage of that fact.  All the internet research in the world can't replace hands on experience in something, so pick up the phone and speak to a human being who specialises in the field.  It can save you thousands in the long run as well as your sanity. I'm still not overly enthralled with the amount of metals that are in water in general, but that's something to research another day.  Oh, and do research around your own country / location too. I'm off to get a lovely big glass of water!
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Post Blog Update on 22 May 2013 : 

Read the latest Water and Environment Affairs Budget Speech - all great news for South Africa, and we are not running out of water.  I also emailed Rand Water and the MD of Johannesburg Water to ask them if we put fluoride in our water, here are their replies :
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12 Comments
Alison Gitelson link
4/4/2013 07:22:34 am

Your points about people getting carried away about health threats based on what circulates on the net is very valid. There is an awful lot of nonsense and sensationalism published and as you say some info which is accurate is location dependant.

However what I would suggest looking into is the effect of the chlorine that is added to the water in order to get those blue drop ratings up. It is my understanding that the chlorine reacts with solid material in the water to create new molecules which are harmful to us, possibly carcinogenic. I used to have a small book explaining it. I will check if I kept it.

Reply
Veronique Free Spriit
4/4/2013 07:28:51 am

I hear you babe. From what I understand, it's very low quantities and there's two different types that do two different things. For me the biggest issue was fluoride this time round. Have to do this stuff all in stages, there is so much to absorb and so many lifestyle changes to make, that it all just gets a bit overwhelming.

Let me know if you find that book. At some stage my plan is to actually drive to the water plants to go see what they look like and ask all the hard questions.

Reply
Alex
6/6/2016 06:17:31 am

The next question that should be asked and researched is the mysterious occurance of chemtrails. I took a drive out to the Vaal yesterday for the first time in decades. What I saw when I looked up into the sky was the spraying of chemtrails all over. The spraying apparently began in the morning and by the the time late afternoon had come, they were still spraying. I haven't really witnessed this in Joburg so I was quite horrified to see this was actually happening in our country. I'm a follower of all the major conspiracy facts that are occuring all around the globe. So when I witnessed these chemtrails for the first time I have to question, what are they doing to our water supplies and to our land by blanketing our skies with these mysterious chemtrails. There are speculations that these chemtrails contain metalic or aluminium nano particles. The USA claims they're attempting to help curb global warming by pumping these chemtrails into the atmosphere. But residents are finding high levels of aluminium in the water and ground. Why such a heavy concentration of these chemtrails at the Vaal which is where Joburgs water comes from as you say. What are these chemtrails?

Reply
Veronique Palmer link
6/6/2016 06:43:29 am

They have been spraying Joburg for years unfortunately. This weekend was particularly bad again. It's a sad state of affairs. Join the Chemtrail Watch South Africa group on Facebook to join the ongoing conversation around this.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChemtrailWatchSouthAfrica/

Reply
Darin Wilson
5/10/2016 06:21:05 pm

I distill my water as most water filters don't do a thorough job though reverse osmosis is almost there.

I live in Port Elizabeth. It is interesting to see how much gunk is really in our water. Interestingly when I distill water from my rain water tank there is still plenty of white powdery residue, probably containing a fair amount of chemtrail residue. The municipal water is gross, the residue left behind is a slightly oily black and brown foul smelling sludge. I doubt our municipal water is as clean as they are letting on.

my tank water vs municipal water finding leaves a lot of food for thought, there is obviously a lot of 'things' in that tap water that my rain water is missing.

Reply
Andile
11/10/2016 08:57:07 am

I'm so grateful to you guys for all the powerful info you're providing...I have been curious about what's in our water(JHB) for a while ..I have also stopped using commercial toothpastes and used natural Green fluoride free toothpaste....continue providing us with such info.....we need people like you

Reply
Anna
24/10/2016 12:40:57 pm

If you have lived overseas, you will never criticize the water. South Africa has the best quality water in the world, hands down. I lived in America for many years and got a new appreciation for South African water. There is no other country where you can drink tap water. In Pennsylvania, the tap water could not even clean dishes. If you do not have your own domestic water filtration system installed, you have to be happy with dirty dishes, dirty laundry and grassy hair.
Accolades to the water supply in South Africa.

Reply
water damage coral gables link
15/3/2017 05:55:45 am

This is my first time visit here. From the tons of comments on your articles,I guess I am not only one having all the enjoyment right here!

Reply
Brandon
14/7/2017 05:09:21 pm

If this is true then what is this ? http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/cape-town-moves-ahead-with-r13million-fluoridation-system-2002-09-20

Reply
Veronique Palmer link
17/7/2017 06:44:32 am

Hi Brandon - wow, what a good find, well done! Very good point indeed! I wonder if they are still doing this? It's so hard to unravel fact from fiction, we need as many open eyes as we can on all these types of things.

Reply
Darlington
12/9/2017 08:11:44 am

It may be years from when you posted this blog. But the reality right now is that fluoride is added to water in South Africa by RAND WATER.
Click on the link below
http://www.randwater.co.za/CorporateResponsibility/WWE/Pages/WaterFlouridation.aspx

Reply
ISA
6/11/2017 08:50:36 am

READ ON MY FACE BOOK WHAT IS THE STATUS QUO IN THE VAAL. WHAT DO WE PAY FOR POLLUTION CORRUPTION LIES AND MORE LIES. WE SHOULD ALL STAND TOGETHER AND STOP ALL PAYMENTS WHAT SO EVER TO ANY MUNICIPALITY AS THIS WILL BEING THEM TO A STANDSTILL AND THEN DICTATE TO MUNICIPALITY BOSSES DO AS WE SAY OR WE WILL NOT PAY FOR SERVICES NOT RENDERED

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