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Water quality is of prime importance to Rand Water's core business of ensuring a reliable supply of good quality drinking water to more than 10 million people. Rand Water has, therefore, implemented a water quality monitoring programme of the source water as well as the drinking water produced. The establishment of the Lesotho Highlands Water Transfer scheme necessitated the expansion of the monitoring programme. In 1996, Rand Water and Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) signed an agreement to jointly develop an extensive water quality monitoring programme for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). Prior to this agreement, monitoring was mainly undertaken by consultants on behalf of LHDA in the main feeder rivers within the Katse Dam catchment (donor system). On the recipient system (Ash/Liebenbergsvlei), extensive physical and chemical monitoring was undertaken by Rand Water and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF). Biological monitoring was however only carried out superficially prior to the release of water. Information gained from carrying out biological and chemical assessments clearly indicates that the water from LHWP has negatively impacted on the biological communities in the recipient system. The importance of detailed before and after biological and physiochemical monitoring of both donor and recipient systems is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the health risks associated with exposure to Cryptosporidium and Giardia, there is no uniform approach to monitoring these protozoan parasites across the world. In the present study, a strategy for monitoring Cryptosporidium and Giardia in drinking water was developed in an effort to ensure that the risk of exposure to these organisms and the risks of non-compliance to guidelines are reduced. The methodology developed will be applicable to all water supply systems irrespective of size and complexity of the purification works. It is based on monitoring procedures proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the risk-based procedure followed by Northern Ireland. The monitoring strategy developed represents a preventative approach for proactively monitoring Cryptosporidium and Giardia species in drinking water. The strategy consists of 10 steps: (i) assessment of the monitoring requirements, (ii) description and characterisation of the source water types, (iii) abstraction of source water, (iv) assessment of the water purification plant, (v) water quality monitoring, (vi) cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis outbreak, (vii) risk assessment, (viii) sample collection and laboratory processing, (ix) data evaluation, interpretation and storage, (x) process evaluation and review. Proper implementation of this protocol can contribute to the protection of drinking water consumers by identifying high-risk source water, identifying areas of improvement within the water treatment system, and also preventing further faecal pollution in the catchments. The protocol can also be integrated into the Water Safety Plans to optimise compliance. Furthermore, this methodology has a potential to contribute to Blue Drop certification as it should form part of the incident management protocols which are a requirement of Water Safety Plan implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]