Holy
Water
It's an unfortunate fact of Grahamstown life that
the tap water is possibly unsafe to drink, with confirmed reports
of high levels of aluminium and arsenic[1]. Several
businesses, selling nothing but purified water, have sprung up
around town, but luckily for Grahamstown residents, there's an
alternative that's even better - high quality spring water. Just
outside Grahamstown, on the border of Coldstream
Farm[3], there is a natural spring that is open to the
public at all times, and completely free. The property owners have
kindly opened up the spring for public use, and spring is upkept by
Angela Mitford-Barberton from the Kowie Catchment Campaign, as well
as Barny Kepe[2]. These two individuals are responsble
for the neat little path to the spring and keeping the area easily
accessible and maintained.
Feel free to quench your thirst at the spring - the
water is completely safe and of high quality. I rely on the spring
for my own drinking water, taking home about 26 litres of the stuff
every other week or so. Often the water barely trickles from the
spring, but after heavy rainfalls the water gushes out, as can be
seen in the above photograph. So far I've been lucky in my water
collecting expeditions, since I've never had to wait for longer
than a few minutes to fill my bottles up, but during the dry season
the queue can be quite long, especially so if the town water
suddenly develops a strange smell due to newly added chemicals.
The cache is a small Lock & Lock container
hidden nearby and out of sight from the spring. However, be aware
that the spring can be a high muggle zone at times, especially over
weekends, so please take care not to attract attention.
Sources: [1]
http://www.watersafe.co.za/2010/03/31/is-grahamstowns-water-safe-yet/
[2]
http://www.ru.ac.za/modules/blog_include/blog_content.php?blog_id=1385
[3]
http://www.grocotts.co.za/content/drinkers-guide-grahamstowns-water-14-10-2010
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