Outflow from only 13 per cent (20 out of 150) of sewage treatment plants in South Africa comply with the minimum standards for release into a water source, a new report showed.
The number of non-compliant plants has increased six percentage points from 81 per cent in 2023, according to the 'green drop' test carried out by AfriForum, a South African non-profit. It tests the discharge of treated sewage water from local wastewater treatment facilities.
The report states that the significant decline in the performance of most of South Africa's sewage treatment plants has led to water sources being polluted with sewage, consequently reducing the production capacity of water treatment plants.
A 'blue drop' assessment of the municipal drinking water showed that 87 per cent was safe for consumption. This represents a decrease of 9 percentage points from the 96 per cent of blue drop tests that indicated safe drinking water in 2023.
Municipal drinking water in 28 towns and cities of South Africa is unsafe, the Blue and Green Drop Project Report 2024 showed.
Last year, the Department of Water and Sanitation in South Africa published a similar report on December 5, 2023 containing an assessment of drinking water quality.
During August 2024, AfriForum tested the municipal drinking water quality of 210 towns and cities across the country. This is 17 locations more than what was tested in 2023 (193).
In this report, the quality of the outflow of 150 sewage treatment plants from across the country was tested by AfriForum — 10 locations more than in 2023 (140 locations).
There has been very little, if any, improvement in the management of South Africa’s water supply and sewage treatment systems during the past five years, the authors of the report flagged.
These systems do not function properly because the vast majority of municipalities, which are primarily responsible for water and sanitation services, continuously underperform in terms of managing, financing, maintaining and protecting existing infrastructure, they pointed out. They also fail to develop and implement new infrastructure to keep up with population growth. The provincial and national levels of government also fail to manage local governments, the reports indicated.
Cooperation and alignment between all levels of government, different government departments, the private sectors and community organisations are key to address the water crisis.