Kids test their schools' water supplies - and 40% of the samples are unsafe to drink

Children and teachers in seven provinces have found that bacterial contamination is widespread, which the Department of Basic Education says is concerning

- By Tony Carnie

Citizen science tests by children and teachers in seven provinces suggest that roughly 40% of the school water samples they collected were not safe to drink because of stomach-bug bacteria and other contaminants.

Although the informal testing project was based on a very small sample of schools - mainly in townships and rural areas - they closely mirror the findings of the government's last official Blue Drop report, which found that “it was not microbiologically safe to drink the water in almost half (46%) of our drinking water systems at times during 2022 when the Blue Drop audit was done”.

The Blue Drop report also said the poor tap-water quality found in many smaller municipalities increases the risk of life-threatening waterborne diseases such as cholera and chronic diarrhoea.

In the latest Water Warriors test programme, children and teachers at 95 schools nationwide collected and analysed samples during a series of World Water Day events in March.