Provincial water utility, Amatola Water scooped two additional Blue Drop awards for its Nahoon and Laing water treatment works at an event held in East London recently.

This brings the number of accolades received by Amatola Water this year to four.

In April the water utility received a Blue Drop award for its Peddie water treatment works and a WISA Wilson’s award which recognised Butterworth waste water treatment works as the most improved in the country. The Peddie treatment works maintained its Blue Water status from last year.

Amatola Water chief executive Nomonde Mnukwa says the accolades show that Amatola Water quality management programmes had achieved a measure of success in its work.

She adds that they give credence to the water utility and boost stakeholder confidence in Amatola Water’s ability to fulfill its role.

“Being awarded with a total of three Blue Drop awards and the WISA Wilson’s award is a significant achievement for Amatola Water.

“This is testimony to our excellent water quality monitoring programme, credibility of water sample analysis and serves as assurance to our customers and the public at large that our water quality management processes are of a very high standard,” says Mnukwa.

Amatola Water director of operations Xola Bomela says the Blue Drop status is meant to build public confidence in the quality of drinking water and to ensure that proper monitoring measures are taken to ensure safe drinking water.

Amatola Water achieved the prestigious Blue Drop status for an overall 95 percent or higher score in process control, monitoring, sample analysis, water quality and safety compliance, asset maintenance systems as well as the qualified maintenance and operating staff. 

The Peddie Water Treatment Works was also awarded with the Best Maintained Small Water Treatment Works accolade in the country.

“For a water supply system to qualify for the Blue Drop award it must receive a total average weighting of 95% to 99% across five criteria in the scorecard.

“These include proper process controlling, an efficient water quality monitoring programme, credibility of water sample analysis, the regular submission of water quality data to the Department of Water Affairs, drinking water quality compliance and response to failures,” explains Bomela.

When the system was initiated a year ago, Amatola Water was the only water utility in the Eastern Cape Province to have been honoured with such a prestigious accolade.

The Sandile and Peddie Water Treatment Works were the only two of Amatola Water’s water works that were randomly selected by the Department of Water Affairs to be assessed.