More than half the country's drinking water is not compliant

More than half of the country’s drinking water is not compliant with chemical water quality standards, with 55% of tested water systems rated “in a bad status”.

The department of water & sanitation presented its preliminary reports on the Green, Blue and No Drop Watch Reports on Tuesday, which showed a decline in the quality of South Africa's drinking water.

The Blue Drop Watch Report assesses the condition of water distribution infrastructure and the quality of drinking water based on samples from water supply systems. It found that only 17% of water systems achieved an “excellent status” when it comes to chemically complying with the South African National Standards (SANS 241).

It said 13% of the systems achieved good status and 15% were poor.

The department’s director-general, Sean Phillips, said: “During the audit period, 11 municipalities did not report water quality data to the department or provide any evidence that they have been testing their water quality.

“Noncompliance notices have been issued to those municipalities, instructing them to issue advisory notices to their residents that their water might not be safe to drink,” he said.

The Western Cape came out top in water quality, with 14 of the 27 tested water supply systems ranked excellent and five rated good.

As for Tshwane, which had an outbreak of cholera in Hammanskraal that led to scores of deaths, only the Temba water treatment work was tested, which supplies the area.

The results were below the required 97-99% for a good status, standing at a lower 80.2% in chemical compliance. Fortunately, Phillips said, Tshwane issued a “do not drink” notice to residents.

“The full Blue Drop report to be issued in July will cover all the water supply systems of Tshwane and other municipalities in Gauteng ... the other supply systems in Tshwane were not tested. The Watch Report sampled only one system per water supply area.”

The Green Drop Watch Report on the other hand provides information on what has been done to address wastewater systems that scored less than 30% in 2022. This led the department to issue noncompliance notices to 90 municipalities, requesting them to submit corrective action plans to address the findings in last year’s report.

But by March this year, the department had received corrective action plans from municipalities for only 168 of the 334 wastewater systems.

Of 90 municipalities, 43 requested support from the department to develop a corrective action plan.

“By March 2023, only 34 of the 168 plans submitted to the department were being implemented, with the balance being in the planning phase or no progress reported. For those municipalities which did not submit corrective action plans, the department has issued directives in terms of the National Water Act compelling them to submit such plans.”

He said some municipalities have been criminally charged for failing to submit the plans.

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