The latest Blue Drop, Green Drop and No Drop reports from the Department of Water and Sanitation indicate a marked deterioration across the board.

Government seems reluctant to call this a crisis, IOPSA believes it is in fact a crisis of monumental proportions.

According to Brendan Reynolds, Executive Director at IOPSA, “This is absolutely a crisis of monumental proportions, it is bigger and far more complex than the loadshedding crisis. 46% of our drinking water does not comply to standards, 67% of wastewater treatment works are failing and 47% of our potable water is lost to non-revenue water, mostly leaks in the municipal system. How can you not call that a crisis?

IOPSA has noted the vast sums of money which government at all levels wastes on high profile conferences, workshops and fancy, headline grabbing projects. It is IOPSA’s opinion that investing this money in repairing, maintaining, and upgrading our water and sanitation systems would go a long way in creating real sustainable employment opportunities, provide a much-needed boost to the economy and present crucial opportunities for skills development and practical work experience. The savings to the fiscus would be massive, not to mention the increase in revenue. All this whilst protecting and conserving vital water resources and preventing further damage to the environment. Everyone at every level of society will benefit if government just simply does their job!” ,he concludes.

 The Blue Drop Report

This is the report on South Africa’s potable water supplies. For the year to June 2022, 144 Water System Authorities (WSAs) were included in the survey, including seven water boards. Across the board there was decline since the last report in 2014.

Almost half the water supplies in South Africa fall below the minimum compliance levels, and a third of the systems are in critical condition. 46% of water supply systems do not comply to water quality standards – a huge decline from 5% in 2014.

Systems in a critical state rose from 174 systems in 2014 to 277 in 2022. Those in an excellent state decline from 44 to 26 systems.

 “The water in these systems could pose serious health risks. IOPSA recommends that water in these areas should be boiled before use, for those with the financial means there are excellent water treatment options available to protect your families. As much as people have been investing in alternative energy over the past few years, the public needs to start thinking about how to secure safe water sources for their families. ” says Steve van Zyl, Technical Manager at IOPSA.

 Only 26 water supply systems received Blue Drop Certification.

The Green Drop Report

This report looks at the state of the wastewater treatment works. 67% of WWTWs are in a critical state. Only 15% of WWTWs comply to microbiological limits. “…85% of WWTWs do not meet microbiological limits and this indicates the effluent from these WWTWs present a serious health risk to downstream users due to the presence of pathogenic bacteria in the effluent,” says the report. In other words, the WWTW’s are polluting our freshwater resources with raw sewage.

“Plumbers have a critical role to play in this regard, the vast amount of stormwater which is being diverted into sewage systems is seriously damaging WWTW and municipal infrastructure. This practice needs to stop, qualified plumbers generally know that this is forbidden, but there are thousands of unqualified people pretending to be plumbers and they have no idea of the impact their actions are having.” Says Van Zyl.  

The No Drop Report

This report looks at water losses and non-revenue water (NRW). 47% of South Africa’s treated water is simply lost.

“We, the public, are paying to treat, store and distribute water that is simply lost. We constantly hear municipalities, the Department of Water and Sanitation and various Water Boards blaming the public for using too much water. This is completely disingenuous. It is the municipalities lack of maintenance and failure to replace ageing infrastructure that is causing the problem. Of course, we all need to do our part in saving wherever we can, but the problem lies squarely with government.” says Reynolds.

Whilst IOPSA applauds the government for providing such a transparent report, the reality is that South Africa is facing a challenge far greater than anything it has ever faced before. Life is not possible without water, the health impacts if this decline continues will be nothing short of a disaster.

Qualified Plumbers play a crucial role in ensuring that water and sanitation is done safely and that it improves the health and safety of the public. At present the industry is being decimated simply because government is failing dismally in enforcing its own laws. There is a massive influx of sub-standard, non-compliant and outright illegal product being sold blatantly in industry. The unchecked growth in unqualified people conducting work and the virtually non-existent enforcement of by-laws at the vast majority of municipalities is all having a massive impact on our country. It is high time that government recognises how critical highly skilled and qualified plumbers are to the basic functioning of any society and takes concrete steps to protect and develop this critical industry.