Dry taps? That’s not the half of Joburg’s water problem

Sewage, industrial toxins and agricultural waste are polluting Gauteng’s rivers and dams, posing a greater crisis than the region’s current water supply woes.

Water expert prof Anja du Plessis warns that in a water-scarce country such as South Africa, pollution threatens not only water quality but also food security.

“Already farmers are having to change their crops because the water used for irrigation is not of a suitable standard to grow crops people consume. The dirtier the water from dams and rivers, the more it costs to treat it.”

Du Plessis said this led to increased water costs for consumers and affected water availability.

For Joburg residents already battling dry taps, the collapse of large parts of the city’s water infrastructure due to neglect and mismanagement does not tell the full story of the water crisis.

The department of water & sanitation’s 2023 “Blue Drop Report” found that 46% of all water supply systems around the country posed acute human health risks because of bacteria or other pathogens in the drinking water.

The report also found that more than two-thirds (67.6%) of all wastewater treatment works were close to failure.

Although the Gauteng region fared well in the report, there are worrying signs.

Water affairs spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said sprawling informal settlements were dumping large amounts of waste into the region’s waterways. Further, some businesses were not properly disposing of their waste and dumping it into rivers.

According to Rand Water, salinity, microbial load and eutrophication are the main threats to rivers and streams within the Upper Vaal catchment area — and, more generally, a threat to all South Africa’s water resources. Eutrophication is the process whereby a waterbody becomes overly enriched with nutrients, leading to various quality and environmental problems.

“This is primarily due to pollutants from poorly treated domestic effluents, agriculture and acid mine drainage. Unless proper management actions are taken, the threat ... will increasingly degrade raw water quality in the Vaal Dam,” Rand Water spokesperson Makenosi Maroo said.

“As a bulk supplier of drinking water, we are highly concerned with pollution in the catchment area because this is where water collects and drains into the Vaal Dam ... where our raw water is drawn from.

“We are also concerned because of the pollutants being discharged from municipal wastewater treatment works. These affect water quality, resulting in high water treatment costs when producing drinking water,” she said.

Du Plessis said dysfunctional municipalities such as Tshwane and Johannesburg — both of which have had major wastewater treatment problems — added to the problem of water pollution. Sewage was diverted into stormwater drains; wastewater treatment plants couldn’t treat all the water coming in; and new building developments were circumventing planning restrictions and dumping sewage directly into streams and rivers.

“Residents whose taps run dry near the Klip River cannot use that water as an alternative because [it] is unsafe to drink. The Cradle of Humankind is under threat because wastewater has been seeping into the groundwater, threatening the whole heritage site.”

Residents whose taps run dry near the Klip River cannot use that water as an alternative because [it] is unsafe to drink. The Cradle of Humankind is under threat because wastewater has been seeping into the groundwater, threatening the whole heritage site.

While this problem had been temporarily addressed, it required further treatment until it was resolved at source.

“Even if people don’t care about the environment or health issues, they are shooting themselves in the foot by not maintaining and monitoring and upgrading their treatment plants. It then takes more money to treat the water, so they are penalised by their own lack of care,” Du Plessis said.

Joburg Water collects 819Ml of wastewater a day, conveyed via 11,956km of sewer pipes (one megalitre is equal to 1-million litres).

Gauteng faces a R20.4bn backlog in infrastructure upgrades — including sewer main replacements; expansions of water and sewage capacity; and the refurbishment of ageing wastewater treatment plants and equipment.

Between 2012 and 2022, sewer overflows rose by 35%, increasing from 384 to 517 incidents per 100km annually.

According to the “Green Drop Report”, there has been a 19% decline in wastewater treatment performance between 2013 and 2022.

Joburg Water says municipal water quality is tested through its laboratories, which have been accredited by the South African National Accreditation System (Sanas).

In South Africa, drinking water quality should comply with national standards. In Joburg, all distribution sampling points are sampled at least twice a month.