TAP water in Buffalo City is top quality and compares favourably with that produced by other international cities, according to a Blue Drop survey.

The City received two Blue Drop awards at the Water Institute of Southern Africa (Wisa) conference in Durban in April this year.

The Blue Drop initiative, launched by the Department of Water Affairs in 2008, has assessed more than 400 municipalities countrywide, with Buffalo City being one of them.

With a mandate to provide drinking water of acceptable quality to its consumers and to monitor the quality of drinking water, the municipality is both a water services provider and a water services authority.

According to a municipal report, it gets its water through seven water supply systems, two of which include municipal operated water treatment works – Umzonyana Water Treatment Works and King William's Town Water Treatment Works.

Umzonyana Water Treatment Works supplies East London, Mdantsane, Duncan Village and surrounding areas, while King William's Town Water Treatment Works supply the King William's Town area.

"The municipality follows a routine water quality monitoring programme where water samples are collected from catchment to consumer and monitored to determine suitability for consumption and other health-related impacts," reads the report.

According to a press statement issued by the national department, South Africa's drinking water is regarded as adequately managed by world standards as a result of the high levels of compliance that have been recorded against the set national standard.

It also confirms that in the 2010 assessment cycle, the water quality improved by 40 percent over 2009.

In 2009, the water supplied by Umzonyana was assessed and attained 67,5 percent compliance; this year it obtained 95 percent. The King William's Town supply was not assessed in 2009, but this year it was assessed and obtained 95,25 percent.

Congratulating the City on the awards, the portfolio head for engineering services, Nomiki Mgezi, said: "This is a legacy that we will cherish for a long time.

"In appreciation of this achievement one has to bear in mind that Blue Drop status is not a permanent status but a ceremonial recognition of our efforts to keep our drinking water clean and pure."

She said the City had an additional challenge to ensure that the other five water treatment works also achieve this status.