AN SMS doing the rounds, stating that Windhoek's drinking water is contaminated, is not true, a senior City of Windhoek official said yesterday.

It is suspected that the SMS followed a report in a tabloid newspaper recently which claimed that the capital's water was contaminated.

According to Piet du Pisani, the "extremely misleading" article "addressed discharges from a wastewater treatment plant, and not in any way the safety of drinking water supplied by the City of Windhoek".

Du Pisani added: "The City of Windhoek rigorously monitors quality in its reservoirs, sources and distribution networks. Due to the fact that Windhoek reuses treated sewage effluent for drinking water, its reputation for supplying safe drinking water is of utmost importance and regrets the spreading of unscientific and untested information, which could affect the trust of our citizens in our drinking water."

According to him, Windhoek's drinking water "is of excellent quality".

Anyone who believes that Windhoek's tap water has given them stomach trouble is requested to contact Du Pisani at 081 122 3911.

"The City is very serious about safeguarding our consumers and would want to be the first to know if there are any problems with the drinking water distributed."