The draft seventh edition of the national standard SANS 241 – Drinking Water Quality has been published for public comment until June 29 as the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and its Technical Committee 147- Water (SABS/TC 147) works to revise and update the requirements of the national standard for drinking water in South Africa.

The draft SANS 241 document, which combines the technical requirements from the previous part 1 and part 2 of SANS 241: 2015, stipulates the revised framework for drinking water quality risk management and specifications for drinking water quality in the country.

All water that complies with the requirements of SANS 241 is deemed to be safe for human consumption.

“Drinking water that is of a quality for human consumption is a basic human need. While there are existing national standards to guide the quality of drinking water in South Africa, it is essential that these standards are reviewed and updated to reflect the latest knowledge and research to ensure that quality drinking water reaches our communities,” said SABS lead administrator Jodi Scholtz.

“The requirements for the drinking water include the technical specifications, monitoring and evaluation and risk management. Microbiological, physical, aesthetic and the chemical determinands of water have been revised according to the latest research and the framework has been updated to incorporate risk management as well as monitoring and evaluation.”

When the draft national standard (SANS 241 Ed7 DSS) is published it will replace the current South African National Standard (SANS) SANS 241:2015, all parts, and all individuals and organisations involved in the process of delivering quality drinking water to communities will need to ensure that they are familiar with the changes.

This draft national standard will be published once the public enquiry process of consultation, including responding to the comments submitted, has been concluded.

The duration of the process will depend on the nature of the public comments which may include further stakeholder engagements in the standards development process.