Something is rotten in water supplied to Pretoria North

The City of Tshwane is accused of not sharing crucial information with residents of suburbs including Montana and Doornpoort, where odious tap water has been reported for months on end

- By Julia Evans

For weeks, residents in parts of northern Pretoria have been forced to bathe, cook and clean with discoloured, foul-smelling water as the City of Tshwane investigates suspected contamination at the Montana Reservoir, a key supply source fed by the Roodeplaat water treatment works.

Suburbs including Montana, Sinoville, Annlin and Doornpoort began reporting issues in early May, but the situation escalated sharply by mid-July. Residents described tap water that smelled like a dam or “fish pond”, prompting health concerns, a social media outcry and hundreds of formal complaints.

“Our domestic water has a terrible and unbearable stench. It has smelt like unfiltered fishy dam water for more than a week already to the extent that you sometimes don’t want to get into the shower,” a Montana resident reported to local ward councillor Arnold van Niekerk on 28 July.

On 30 July, the City of Tshwane told Daily Maverick that its investigations had found elevated levels of ammonia, orthophosphate, nitrate and manganese in the treated water. These imbalances triggered increased algal activity and excessive chloramine formation, leading to the odour and discolouration.

WaterCAN executive director Dr Ferrial Adam pointed out that the City had not explained why these nutrient levels had increased in the first place. She said an increase in the orthophosphates and nitrates would typically indicate the presence of bacteria (such as coliform) or contamination from sources such as fertilisers or organic waste. “But if this is from a water treatment plant, then obviously it raises the red flag of why are those high?”

Adam said although increased algae could lead to more chlorine being used in purification, which might cause the water's foul smell and discolouration, she was not convinced that this explained everything. “They should tell you why that is happening ... and my feeling is that there's some kind of a spillage somewhere.”