HOW TO SECURE SAFE DRINKING WATER

The document advises Cape Town residents to assume untreated water from boreholes, rain tanks, and springs is unsafe due to microbes and chemicals. It recommends testing water against the SANS 241 standard and suggests boiling as the simplest microbial treatment. It also provides a comparison of various household treatment methods and guidelines for sterile storage using food-grade plastics.

• Untreated water from rain tanks or boreholes should be assumed unsafe for drinking and cooking because it may contain invisible microbes such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoans, including Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
• To verify the safety of untreated water, it must be tested in a registered laboratory using the South African National Standards (SANS 241), which assesses both microbial presence and chemical content, including salts and heavy metals.
• Boiling is identified as the simplest and safest method for ensuring microbial safety; water must be given a long boil for at least three minutes to kill microbes.
• Drinking water should be stored in sealed, sterile containers made of food-grade plastic (specifically those marked with numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 to avoid BPA leaching) and kept in a cool, dark place.
• While tap water is generally safe, residents are advised to boil water following outages because soil water may enter pipes through cracks when they stand empty.

APA

WWF South Africa (2018). HOW TO SECURE SAFE DRINKING WATER. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/WWFWaterFiles03-drinking_water.pdf

Chicago

WWF South Africa. HOW TO SECURE SAFE DRINKING WATER. 2018. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/WWFWaterFiles03-drinking_water.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF South Africa |title=HOW TO SECURE SAFE DRINKING WATER |date=31 January 2018 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/WWFWaterFiles03-drinking_water.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfsouthafrica2018how, author = {{WWF South Africa}}, title = {{HOW TO SECURE SAFE DRINKING WATER}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2018}, month = jan, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/WWFWaterFiles03-drinking_water.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }