By Mthulisi Sibanda
JOHANNESBURG, – AS the municipal water supply creaks under the strain of the country’s growing population and the flight of key technical skills to the private sector, some companies have reportedly started supplying reverse-osmosis (RO) home water treatment systems and are allegedly misinforming households the water they consume is unsafe for drinking.
As competition in supplying water intensifies and companies try to gain an edge over each other.
Officials in the industry told Gauteng Guardian that RO sales representatives are coming the public in the province through the so-called jam jar water scam.
GoZone Water executive, John Oort. outlines the modus operandi of the sales reps.
The reps show a homeowner two jam jars. One is filled with normal municipal water. The other is filled with RO water treated with the company’s home treatment kit. An electrical current is then passed through both jars of water.
Because the RO water contains fewer beneficial minerals, there is little to conduct the electricity and it stays virtually the same colour.
“However, the untreated municipal water still contains many beneficial minerals which effectively conduct electricity and therefore turn the water brown,” explains Oort.
“Think of this as the difference between high-fibre, nutrient-packed healthy brown bread, and processed unhealthy white bread. Do not be persuaded that the colour change is an indication of impurities in the water,” says Oort.
Gordon Reid, a water scientist, corroborates the explanation.
“RO contain very little to no minerals,” he says.
“This water does not conduct electricity since to conduct electricity minerals need to be present in the water. When electricity is not present then none of the chemical reactions can occur, which show up the discolouration in the water.”
He says tap and mineral water contains minerals, which allow electricity to flow as a current through the water. This subsequently also allows the precipitation and electrochemical reactions to take place which discolours the water. The change in colour can show up as a grey precipitate, brown or red-brown sludge.
“This colour change is normal and as expected,” says Reid.
Meanwhile, the South African Bottled Water Association (SANBWA) says it is against the “Precipitator Test,” dis missing it as “fraudulent.”
Rand Water also says the test to misrepresent the cleanliness of bottled, purified or municipal tap water and endorses efforts to end this “fraudulent practice.” – Gauteng Guardian Reporter
Sales people from various companies of late made use of a so called “purity” or “precipitator” test to supposedly prove that all water, except for the water produced via their purification equipment, is impure and subsequently unsafe for human consumption. They sell Reverse Osmosis equipment, also known as desalination membrane water purification systems.
“Sales reps are doing door to door, trying to get residents to purchase home water purification units that use RO to purify the water. They are using false science to demonstrate the benefit of their purification units,” says an official.
However, he adds there is nothing wrong with people buying RO units, except for one thing, which is that they take all the ingredients out of the water, even the good ones like minerals.”
Despite the alleged controversies, RO is a legitimate way to purify home drinking water.
Says Ort: “However, the downside is that it removes both impurities and beneficial minerals simultaneously. Sales representatives from the RO home water treatment companies turn this downside into a perceived plus with the jam jar test.” – mthulisi.sibanda@gautengguardian.co.za Twitter@mthukasibanda
