A survey of water quality at two rural water treatment plants and various points-of-use in Vhembe District Municipality, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Water treatment plants (WTPs) in developing countries play an important role in providing potable water to rural and urban areas. However, they often face many challenges, making them unable to produce quality water for consumers. We surveyed the performance of two rural WTPs from the Vhembe District Municipality, South Africa for eight months using secondary water quality data from each plant. Turbidity at the WTPs and most points of use (POU) exceeded the aesthetic (5 NTU) and operational (1 NTU) risk guidelines. Fluoride, iron, and manganese were within the regulated limits of < 1 mg/L, <3 mg/L and < 4 mg/L, respectively), but with signs of post-treatment change in the concentration of iron and manganese in the distribution system. At both WTPs, the free chlorine residual was below limits (<5 mg/L,), posing a risk of proliferation of pathogens in the distribution system. The results indicated problems with water disinfection at both WTPs. The study suggested the existence of challenges with the integrity, good operation, and maintenance of the water treatment system and distribution network. It is necessary to continuously monitor the performance of WTPs and POU to ensure public health and safety.

KEYWORDS:

• Drinking water quality
• water treatment
• drinking water
• Vhembe District Municipality
• SANS-241

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge a National Research Foundation (NRF, South Africa) and the North-West University for Master’s bursaries that were granted to FM. The work could not have been possible without the permission and support of the Vhembe District Municipality and the officials of the Vondo and Mutale Water Treatment Plants. We thank the reviewers for their valuable comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability

All relevant data are included in the paper.

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03736245.2024.2308924