An Eastridge family claim to have found a tadpole in their tap water recently.
At 9.54pm on Sunday April 2, 17-year-old Imraan Rajaap, poured a glass of water to find what seemed like a tadpole swimming in his drinking water. He screamed in shock and informed his parents.
His mother, Inshaad, said when she looked at the creature in the glass she “got sick to her stomach”.
She said at the time the tadpole was alive and she even took it out of the glass to make sure.
“It was unbelievable and I immediately took pictures. It was really nauseating, and to think that it came out of the tap,” she said.
Ms Rajaap said she usually drinks bottled water, because she found the water to have a strange taste recently.
“We have been drinking bottled water because the drinking water tasted sandy and brakish. However, last week the water tasted normal again, and just a few days after, this happens,” she said.
Ms Rajaap said she hopes that the City of Cape Town would address the problem as soon as possible because clean water was a necessity.
Mayoral committee member for area south, Eddie Andrews, said the City of Cape Town was investigating the matter and he could not comment until that investigation had been finalised.
Mr Andrews said the City’s environmental health practitioners visited the premises on Monday April 10 where a water sample was taken for submission to the City’s Scientific Services laboratory.
“The organism has also been delivered to the laboratory to determine what exactly it is. The matter is therefore under investigation and the City will communicate its findings to the resident as soon as they are available,” he said.
Mr Andrews said the City encouraged residents to contact the City’s call centre on 0860 103 089 to log a complaint if they encounter similar incidents.
“Alternatively, they can contact their local Environmental Health Office directly – details of which can also be obtained via their local clinic,” he said.
Speaking about the water cleansing process, Mr Andrews said water undergoes extensive filtration as well as chemical treatment before it is pressure-fed into the reticulation system. “Water quality is controlled at the treatment plants by the process controllers who perform tests on an hourly basis in the on-site labs in order to make the necessary adjustments. In addition, we fully support and comply with strict water quality checks as prescribed by the National Government’s Department of Water and Sanitation,” he said.