Low level of water quality and unfriendly environment

Theunissen is a town that is 50km from Welkom and 90km from Bloemfontein. In this town for the past 14 years residents have lived in a condition where the waste dumping site is located next to the dam that supplies water to the community. This creates a low level of water quality and also an unfriendly environment  with worse living condition as there is not even a fence that restricts the waste form being nearer to the dams. Residents and motorist who uses the R30,which is now  called Z.R Mahabane road that  runs from Kroonstad via Welkom to Bloemfontein, always complaine since the road is packed with papers and plastic obstructing the road.

When it is windy these papers pass to the same place of location where they were collected from and end up being more on ground instead of dustbins. Masilonyana municipality into which Theunissen falls under, has been listed as one of the lowest performer on level of water quality through the survey and report by the Department of Water Affairs. The report indicates blue drop score sheet over hundred as follow in a three years period :

• 2012-11.4%
• 2011-6.49%
• 2010-6.2 %

Through this report we have on low level of water maintenance this indicates that there is a need for the waste dumping site to be separated from the water supply dams as it has a negative impact both to water and environment. Community members indicated that the problem lies with the municipality by not employing people who specialise in water and the same people who are employed without proper skills are not sent for training so that they learn how to improve the level of water quality. .

GUBICO Water Surveillance Task Team Reports.