Only 31% of Municipalities provide water in good condition and 5% in an excellent condition. This is according to a blue drop report published by the Department of Water and Sanitation yesterday (06th June 2023).
According to the Director – General of the Department, Dr Sean Phillips, about 151 out of 1035 water treatment systems in the country were sampled. All water service authorities were covered in the sample.
About 3% of the sampled systems were found to be in critical infrastructure, 12% in poor conditions, 49% were found in average areas.
These findings were supported in the 2022 South African Institute of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card.
A blog online (Gitnux) released the following statistics about water in South Africa in numbers :
#Approximately 37% of drinkable water is lost to leaks and wastage.
#56% of wastewater treatment plants are in a poor state.
#Over 40% of South Africans do not have access to clean drinking water.
#71% of all water pollution comes from acid mine drainage.
#The annual cost for these issues ranges between R396 million and R6.4 billion.
#An estimated 26% loss due to non-revenue water each year costing around R7.2 billion annually alone.
What action will the Department take to ensure Municipalities comply?
In terms of SANS 241, municipalities are required to monitor the microbiological and chemical quality of the water provided to residents at specified intervals, including hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly tests of various types. Despite this, 11 Municipalities did not report water quality data to the Department or provide any other evidence that they have been testing their water quality.
The Department has issued non-compliance notices to those municipalities instructing them to issue advisory notices to their residents that their water might not be safe to drink if it has not been properly tested.