Don’t have your Nedbank ID yet?
Nedbank ID single sign-on gives you full digital access to Nedbank’s banking and lifestyle products and services on the Money app or Online Banking.
Log in
Log in to Online Banking or another one of our secured services.
Bank how and when you choose to, with the low fees or extra benefits you want.
Shop online or instore and earn rewards for it, with up to 55 days interest-free credit.
Buy foreign banknotes, transfer funds or shop globally with a travel card.
Great interest rates, with great flexibility and access to your money when you need it.
Personalised interest rates for affordable loans from R2,000 to R300,000.
Loan up to 100% of the property value or up to 105% if you are a first-time home buyer.
Choose a plan for yourself, family or build your own cover to suit your needs.
Get cover for your car, building, house contents, valuables and more.
Cover your bond, credit card, overdraft, loan and car repayments.
Choose a plan for yourself, family or build your own cover to suit your needs.
Take the right steps to achieve your financial goals with expert financial planning.
Plan for everything you own and owe, so your estate is in order when you’re gone.
Accounts
-
Everyday banking Safety, convenience and rewards
-
Youth banking For under 16s, or under 25s
-
Accounts -
Digital wallet Your phone is your bank account
-
Private Wealth The globally integrated account
-
Goal saving Easy access to interest earned
Credit cards
Digital banking
Switch to Nedbank
Fraud awareness
Forex
Rewards
Accounts
-
On demand Money available at any time
-
In 24 hours Cash in your hand the next day
-
In 32 days Funds ready within a month
-
End of term Investments left until maturity
Investment services
Share trading
Personal loans
Home loans
Student loans
Overdrafts
Vehicle finance
Solar finance
Life cover
Funeral cover
Short term insurance
Credit Life
Travel insurance
Is your business covered?
Secure Investments
Financial planning
Estate, wills & trust services
Nedbank Private Wealth
Speak to a financial adviser
Blog
Talk to us
Find us
- Login & Register
- Online Banking
- Online Share Trading
- NetBank Business
- NedFleet
- Nedbank Greenbacks
- Nedgroup Investments
- Nedbank ID
- Bank
- Accounts
- Credit cards
- Digital banking
- Switch to Nedbank
- Fraud awareness
- Forex
- Rewards
- Explore Bank
- Accounts
- Everyday banking
- Youth banking
- Accounts
- Digital wallet
- Private Wealth
- Goal saving
- See all accounts
- Get help choosing
- Family Banking
- Refugees and asylum seekers
- FAQ
- How-to guides
- Everyday banking
- MiGoals Premium
- MiGoals Plus
- MiGoals
- Discontinued accounts
- Youth banking
- Nedbank4Me
- Digital wallet
- MobiMoney
- Private Wealth
- Private Wealth Bundle
- Goal saving
- MyPocket
- American Express
- Amex Gold
- Amex Platinum
- Digital banking
- Switch to Nedbank
- Fraud awareness
- Forex
- Send and receive
- Rewards
- Save & Invest
- Accounts
- Investment services
- Share trading
- Explore Save & Invest
- On demand
- Club
- Money Market
- Stokvel
- In 24 hours
- JustInvest
- PlatinumInvest
- Tax-free Savings
- MoneyTrader
- EasyAccess Fixed Deposit
- PrimeSelect
- In 32 days
- Electronic 32Day Notice
- 32Day Notice
- End of term
- Tax-free Fixed Deposit
- Electronic Fixed Deposit
- Electronic Optimum Plus
- Platinum Fixed Deposit
- Fixed Deposit
- OptimumPlus
- Investment services
- Share trading
- Borrow
- Personal loans
- Home loans
- Student loans
- Overdrafts
- Vehicle finance
- Solar finance
- Explore Borrow
- Personal loans
- Consolidation loan
- Secondhand car loan
- Home improvement loan
- Exclusive short-term loan offers
- Explore loans
- FAQ
- How to guides
- Consolidation loan
- Secondhand car loan
- Home improvement loan
- Exclusive short-term loan offers
- Home loans
- Building loan
- Switching home loan
- Repossessed properties
- Start your home buying journey
- Solar-energy Finance
- Earn R29,600 p/m or less? See offer
- HomeVision extra funds
- Home-buying Toolkit
- Managing your home loan
- Explore home loans
- FAQ
- How to guides
- Track application
- Building loan
- Switching home loan
- Repossessed properties
- Start your home buying journey
- Solar-energy Finance
- Earn R29,600 p/m or less? See offer
- HomeVision extra funds
- Home-buying Toolkit
- Managing your home loan
- Student loans
- Explore student loans
- Overdrafts
- Vehicle finance
- Solar finance
- Insure
- Life cover
- Funeral cover
- Short term insurance
- Credit Life
- Travel insurance
- Is your business covered?
- Secure Investments
- Explore Insure
- Life cover
- Get a call back
- Explore MyCover life
- Funeral cover
- Individual R10,000
- Individual R30,000
- Family Cover
- Build your own cover
- Get a call back
- Explore MyCover Funeral
- Individual R10,000
- Individual R30,000
- Family Cover
- Build your own cover
- Short term insurance
- Vehicle insurance
- Building insurance
- House contents insurance
- Valuables insurance
- Get a call back
- Explore MyCover short term insurance
- Vehicle insurance
- Building insurance
- House contents insurance
- Valuables insurance
- Credit Life
- Home loan credit life
- MFC Vehicle Finance Assurance
- Overdraft Assurance
- Balance Protection Plan
- Personal loan Assurance
- Get a call back
- Explore credit life
- Home loan credit life
- MFC Vehicle Finance Assurance
- Overdraft Assurance
- Balance Protection Plan
- Personal loan Assurance
- Travel insurance
- Is your business covered?
- Secure Investments
- Guaranteed Growth Plan
- Guaranteed Income Plan
- Get a call back
- Explore MyCover Funeral
- Guaranteed Growth Plan
- Guaranteed Income Plan
- Plan
- Financial planning
- Estate, wills & trust services
- Nedbank Private Wealth
- Speak to a financial adviser
- Explore Plan
- Financial planning
- Investment planning
- Insurance planning
- Give
- Retirement planning
- Investment planning
- Insurance planning
- Give
- Retirement planning
- Estate, wills & trust services
- Will drafting
- Ensure your estate is managed by an executor | Nedbank
- Trust services
- Financial accounting
- Tax services
- Leave the admin of your estate to us, and not to your loved ones | Nedbank
- Will drafting
- Ensure your estate is managed by an executor | Nedbank
- Trust services
- Financial accounting
- Tax services
- Leave the admin of your estate to us, and not to your loved ones | Nedbank
- Nedbank Private Wealth
- Speak to a financial adviser
- Learn
- Blog
- Explore Learn
- Blog
- Contact us
- Talk to us
- Find us
- Explore Contact us
- Talk to us
- Find us
How do you know your tap water is safe to drink?
How do you know your tap water is safe to drink?
Staff writer
Posted 09/05/2023 Updated 21/06/2023 4 mins
Increasingly, South Africans need to check water quality for themselves...
For many years tap water from municipal supplies in South Africa has been considered safe to drink. But increasingly, in several parts of the country, tap water is failing to meet minimum drinking standards. Some municipalities are struggling to filter and treat the water they supply to residents according to the prescribed safety standards, while other municipalities get their water from state-owned water boards that are also unable to deliver safe drinking water.
The most important aspect of water treatment is reducing the microbial content of the water and eliminating any harmful micro-organisms. Increasingly though, sewage and other toxic chemicals are being allowed to spill into our water systems, putting the health of residents at risk. Experts warn that a water crisis bigger than the current electricity catastrophe is looming, if repairing and upgrading our sewage and water infrastructure and conserving our supply of fresh water doesn’t become a priority for action at all levels of government.
So, as an average citizen, how do you know your tap water is safe to drink?
How clean does water need to be?
Water is essential for sustaining life – you can live for some time with no food, but you’re unlikely to survive more than 4 days without water. Unless it’s freshly boiled, water will always contain bacteria – millions of invisible creatures that are naturally present in water. Most strains of bacteria are harmless or even useful, like those that provide digestive benefits in our stomachs and intestines. Other types of waterborne bacteria, like E. coli, are dangerous because they cause diseases like cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and hepatitis A.
These conditions become endemic – meaning they become a permanent feature, being passed around a community but never dying out because as one person recovers, another is infected – wherever water is stored, piped or consumed in unsanitary conditions. The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 2 billion people globally drink water contaminated by human waste, and more than 500,000 people a year die from the diarrhoea-related issues that result. In South Africa, diarrhoea affects more than 3 million people and kills 15,000 every year.
If you don’t trust the quality of your tap water, you may be forced to find an alternative source
Water treatment facilities use filtration to remove visible contaminants from drinking water and chemicals like chlorine to kill invisible bacteria. When a treatment plant fails to filter water effectively or add the right proportions of chlorine, contaminated water can enter reservoirs and pipes and find its way into your taps. If the water that this plant is processing has been contaminated by broken sewerage infrastructure upstream, you have a recipe for disaster.
Simple ways to make sure your drinking water is safe:
Boil it
If you’re worried about bacteria levels in your tap water, heat it to a vigorous boil and then let it cool before drinking it. This will protect you from diarrhoea-related illnesses caused by bacteria – but note that it won’t remove any chemical contaminants that may be present, only the biological ones. If you boil a jug of water to drink throughout the day, keep it covered and preferably in the fridge.
Invest in a water purifier
Even if your municipality is providing clean, safe water, tap water can still have a bad taste or smell thanks to residual elements like sulphites or over chlorination. A home water purifier removes contaminants to provide you with pure, fresh water. Manufacturers claim that purified water also helps with digestion, boosts athletic performance, detoxifies the body and promotes clearer skin. There are 3 methods of water purification: reverse osmosis, distillation and ultraviolet irradiation.
Another type of filter ‘softens’ your water. It removes excessive magnesium and calcium salts from ‘hard water’ – the type that makes it harder to get a lather from soap and deposits limescale on metal surfaces, which can clog up your home’s plumbing and shorten the life of your geyser element.
Use a test strip
You can buy single-use strips to detect chemicals in the water in kits that cost between R200 and R700. Dip the strip in a water sample and monitor the change in colour. This indicates the concentration of the specific chemical the strip is designed to detect. Test with a strip daily, and you can monitor your water quality effectively. You’ll get an early warning if the quality starts to deteriorate, and you can investigate alternative options.
Test your water in a laboratory
You can also send your water to a professional laboratory for testing – this is probably the best course if you’re worried about biological contaminants, although it can be costly. There are many such labs around the country that follow the safety and purity guidelines set by the Department of Health.
Practical alternatives to tap water
If you don’t trust the quality of your tap water, you may be forced to find an alternative source. Bottled water is only an option for the wealthy and, in general, it’s not healthy for the environment. You can maintain your own water supply by drilling a borehole to harvest underground water or collecting rainwater and storing it in tanks. Jojo or similar tanks cost anything between R1,500 and R14,500.
Water quality is becoming a crisis in South Africa, and it may prove even more disruptive to our lives than load-shedding
If you have to drill a borehole, it’s important to choose a reputable company to help you, because it’s a costly process. You can go to the SA Boreholes Portal to find a service provider in your area. The Borehole Water Association of Southern Africa estimates that the cost of drilling a borehole is approximately R6,000 per metre. You will also need to budget for the extra costs of erecting a pump and having the water tested. Depending on where you live, you may be able to set up fog nets to harvest water from mist too.
Exercise caution if you start collecting and storing your own water. Water may look clean and safe to drink, but chemical or biological contaminants can be invisible, odourless and tasteless. If you adopt an alternative water supply, have the source tested for safety. Toxic chemicals or untreated sewage can seep into boreholes, while stored rainwater has run over your roof and gutters, which also exposes it to both chemical and biological contaminants.
As ancient sailors knew too well, if you store freshwater in containers for too long, the growth of bacteria and algae can make it foul and undrinkable. You may also need to invest in a purification system to treat stored water for drinking. For a reliable purification system, expect to pay up to R3,500.
Alternatively, boiling your drinking water between the storage tank and consumption might be sufficient. Water must be heated to at least 50°C to kill legionella bacteria, which can cause Legionnaire’s disease, so it’s a good idea to ensure that whatever type of geyser you use is also set to a temperature of at least 50°C.
It’s also essential to make sure that water containers are mosquito-proof, so they don’t turn into mosquito breeding grounds.
Tackling the water crisis
One thing is clear – water quality is becoming a crisis in South Africa, and it may prove even more disruptive to our lives and our economy than load-shedding. We need to hold suppliers to account if we are going to avoid a catastrophe. State institutions must be given the resources, skills and urgent motivation to improve water treatment and delivery, or we could end up with as many people trying to secure their own safe water supply in the future as we have installing solar power systems right now. It’s easy to foresee how that scenario could lead to conflict between neighbours and communities.
If you have the resources to install a borehole or rainwater collection system, however, you’d be well advised to investigate those options now. If the quality of your tap water deteriorates rapidly, you’ll be prepared.
To help you save money on water and energy in your home, Nedbank has made the Water Saving Guide and the Smart Living Guide available for free on our website. A personal loan or your home loan could help you finance your own safe alternative water supply.