Montana residents forced to shower in ‘fishy’ water — Tshwane investigates

For weeks, residents in parts of northern Pretoria have been forced to bathe, cook and clean in discoloured, foul-smelling water, as the City of Tshwane investigates suspected contamination at the Montana Reservoir — a key supply zone fed by the Roodeplaat water treatment works.

Suburbs including Montana, Sinoville, Annlin and Doornpoort began reporting issues in early May, with the situation escalating sharply by mid-July. Residents described tap water that smelled like a dam or “fish pond”, prompting health concerns, a social media outcry and hundreds of formal complaints.

“Our domestic water has a terrible and unbearable stench. It smells like unfiltered fishy dam water for more than a week already – to the extent that you sometimes don’t want to get into the shower,” a Montana resident reported to their local ward councillor, Arnold van Niekerk, on Monday, 28 July.

On Wednesday, the City of Tshwane told Daily Maverick that its investigations had found elevated levels of ammonia, orthophosphate, nitrate and manganese in the final treated water. These imbalances triggered increased algal activity and excessive chloramine formation, leading to the odour and discolouration.

WaterCAN executive director Dr Ferrial Adam pointed out that the city had not explained why these nutrient levels had increased in the first place.

She said that typically, an increase in the orthophosphates and nitrates would indicate the presence of bacteria (such as coliform) or contamination from sources such as fertilisers or organic waste.

“But if this is from a water treatment plant, then obviously it raises the red flag of, ‘why are those high?’ ”

She said that while increased algae could lead to more chlorine being used in purification, which might cause the water’s foul smell and discolouration, she was not fully convinced that this explained everything. 

“They should tell you why that is happening… and my feeling is that there’s some kind of a spillage somewhere.”

Recurring problem

The Roodeplaat water treatment works, located northeast of Pretoria, treats raw water from the Roodeplaat Dam and distributes potable water via reservoirs, including Montana’s, which supplies several suburbs in the north of the city.

Van Niekerk told Daily Maverick that in early May, amid initial complaints, the city flushed the system and temporarily switched the Montana supply over to Rand Water, the bulk water supplier. The reservoir was cleaned between 11 and 13 May, offering some relief.

But by early July, the problem had returned.

“They switched from the Roodeplaat pipeline to the Rand Water supply and said the water should be clean, but it’s not. We’re still getting complaints from residents about the smell,” he said, noting that the situation had improved since Tuesday night, 29 July, adding that he received only one complaint on Wednesday, 30 July, compared with nearly 200 a day last week.

Growing frustration

The concerns escalated between 29 and 30 July, prompting city officials to assure the public that technical teams were working around the clock to determine the source and extent of the problem. But complaints from residents have been persistent. 

One resident, Corene Munro, said her water had “been smelling like dam water for weeks”, adding that, “one cannot wash dishes nor take a shower in this water – that’s how bad the stench is, not to even think how unsafe, unhygienic and unhealthy it is.”

Other residents expressed concern online. One Twitter user wrote: “Pretoria water smells like fish/sushi, sewage water a bit!!” Another said, “Please come to Montana! Our water smells and is dirty.  Pretoria is falling apart.”

Pretoria water 💦 smells like fish/sushi, sewage water a bit!!

— ŞęłëBøğø 🦛 (@AbutiSlesh) July 28, 2025

Some residents took matters into their own hands, testing water quality at home. A Montana Gardens resident reported that while their tap water’s Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) reading was 186ppm  – technically within safe drinking levels – the smell was still unbearable. Their filtered water, with a TDS of 10ppm, had no odour.

Another resident said to their local councillor, “Supplying dirty (and possibly dangerous) water to residents should be an urgent matter, not something that takes a month to issue a notice like this and make a backup plan (which they have also done before – a year ago) –  but the problem is recurring.”

Another Montana resident said that while the water was a normal colour, the stench was severe, saying, “it smells like genuine dam water”.

The resident did note that this morning there was a noticeable difference in the smell, adding that “it was the first time that I actually didn’t mind getting into the shower”.

‘Lack of transparency and accountability’

Despite mounting frustration, Van Niekerk said feedback from city officials had been minimal. 

“I don’t understand why we didn’t get any feedback since we started complaining. We keep on begging for updates and feedback. How do we support our residents without any form of feedback?” asked Van Niekerk.

WaterCAN has criticised the city’s lack of clarity and transparency throughout the incident.

“Water safety is a public health issue,” said Adam. “The city must clearly share the investigation findings, including whether drinking water quality was affected, and what corrective steps are being taken. Communities deserve more than vague assurances – they need clear, timely information.”

On 29 July, the city issued a media alert confirming that it was investigating the water odour and discolouration affecting the Montana Reservoir. The city said its technical team was “working diligently to determine the cause of the odour” and had activated Rand Water’s backup supply “to ensure safe and consistent provision of potable water to the affected areas”. It apologised for the disruption and pleaded for residents’ patience.

As of 27 July, the Roodeplaat water treatment plant has been shut down while the municipality flushes infrastructure and attempts to stabilise water quality. The affected areas –  including Montana, Doornpoort, Sinoville and others supplied via the Montana Reservoir – will continue to receive water from Rand Water until the city confirms the system is safe.

The city has committed to publicly releasing water quality results once the investigation is finalised.

“Enough is enough. As a ward councillor, I’m appalled by the contaminated water crisis,” said Lenise Breytenbach, ward councillor for Montana, Sinoville, Annlin and surrounding areas in north Pretoria.

“Residents and businesses deserve better. We’re paying for these services, and it’s unacceptable that we’ve had to fight for answers.”

She said that “the mayor needs to come forward, provide transparency and explain what’s being done to fix this. We demand better service delivery, accountability and action – not empty promises.”

In response to Daily Maverick’s questions, the city said that the water was “aesthetically compromised”, with potential to cause brown laundry stains and a fishy or metallic taste, but that no acute health risks had been identified. It said the issue began between routine monitoring sessions and was therefore not immediately detected.

Who’s responsible?

Van Niekerk says accountability is lacking. “Water is precious. Why can’t people manage it? Where are the people who do the daily testing? Who’s going to take responsibility for this?” he asked. 

He said requests for daily water quality reports from the Roodeplaat plant had gone unanswered. “We must get the culprits behind it. The plant manager is supposed to oversee this and provide daily reporting. Where’s that report?”

WaterCAN urged all municipalities to prioritise preventive water quality management, make results public, and encouraged residents to report and test water irregularities, adding that it would continue to support citizen-led water monitoring efforts.

As one Montana resident put it this week: “In the meantime, we have to just accept it, wash our clothes and shower in fish-water.” DM